A Companion to Archaeology features essays from 27 of the world's leading authorities on different types of archaeology that aim to define the field and describe what it means to be an archaeologist. Shows that contemporary archaeology is an astonishingly broad activity, with many contrasting specializations and ways of approaching the material record of past societies. Includes essays by experts in reading the past through art, linguistics, or the built environment, and by professionals who present the past through heritage management and museums. Introduces the reader to a range of archaeologists: those who devote themselves to the philosophy of archaeology, those who see archaeology as politics or anthropology, and those who contend that the essence of the discipline is a hard science.

A Companion to Archaeology features essays from 27 of the world's leading authorities on different types of archaeology that aim to define the field and describe what it means to be an archaeologist.* Shows that contemporary archaeology is an astonishingly broad activity, with many contrasting specializations and ways of approaching the material record of past societies.* Includes essays by experts in reading the past through art, linguistics, or the built environment, and by professionals who present the past through heritage management and museums.* Introduces the reader to a range of archaeologists: those who devote themselves to the philosophy of archaeology, those who see archaeology as politics or anthropology, and those who contend that the essence of the discipline is a hard science.

List of Illustrations viiiNotes on Contributors xiiPreface xxList of Abbreviations xxiiiMaps xxivPart I Introduction 11 The Historiography of Archaic Greece 3John K. Davies2 The Mediterranean World in the Early Iron Age 22Carol G. ThomasPart II Histories 413 The Early Iron Age 43Catherine Morgan4 The Eighth-century Revolution 64Ian Morris5 The World of Homer and Hesiod 81Christoph Ulf6 The Tyrants 100Elke Stein-Hölkeskamp7 Sparta 117Massimo Nafissi8 Athens 138Michael Stahl and Uwe Walter9 Greeks and Persians 162Josef WiesehöferPart III Regions 18710 Attica: A View from the Sea 189Sanne Houby-Nielsen11 The Aegean 212Alexander Mazarakis Ainian and Iphigenia Leventi12 Laconia and Messenia 239Nigel Kennell and Nino Luraghi13 The Peloponnese 255Thomas Heine Nielsen and James Roy14 Crete 273James Whitley15 Northern Greece 294Zosia Halina Archibald16 The Western Mediterranean 314Carla M. Antonaccio17 The Black Sea 330Gocha R. TsetskhladzePart IV Themes 34718 Cities 349Jan Paul Crielaard19 Foundations 373Irad Malkin20 States 395Hans-Joachim Gehrke21 Charismatic Leaders 411Robert W. Wallace22 Sanctuaries and Festivals 427François de Polignac23 The Economy 444Hans van Wees24 Class 468Peter W. Rose25 Gender 483Lin Foxhall26 The Culture of the Symposion 508Oswyn Murray27 The Culture of Competition 524Nick Fisher28 Literacy 542John-Paul Wilson29 Intellectual Achievements 564Kurt A. Raaflaub30 War and International Relations 585Henk Singor31 Ethnicity and Cultural Exchange 604Jonathan M. HallBibliography 618Indices 713