James Scheurich argues that practices of policy--normalized over time through repetition--serve three purposes. They structure social problems for which policy is designed to address; construct certain people, implicitly or explicitly, as problem individuals; and shape policy solutions. Following Foucault, he offers what he calls Policy…

Discusses public attitudes toward archaeology and the artifacts of the past. Calls for undergraduate and graduate archaeology curricula to emphasize conservation, ethics, and the value of the past; to combine rigorous academics with training in stewardship and public education; and to promote respect for Native American cultures and the early…

Describes several archaeological sites and Roman art works in which to study ancient Roman history, including Lavinium, Paestum, Cosa, Praeneste, the Augustine temples, Sperlonga, the J. Paul Getty Museum, and the cemetery under St. Peter's. (CK)

Describes a theoretical model for archaeologists which relates household functions to variations in household size and organization. Household functions are defined as resource production and distribution, transmission of property, and family reproduction. The applicability of this model to a project on Mayan archaeology is discussed. (AM)

The scrutiny of racism as a cultural practice is well established in scholarship and in American public discourse. The underlying problem of race itself is also a common topic in academic writings and is a matter of ever-increasing consensus in anthropology and biology. But the significance of race as an inherently flawed interpretation of human…

Summarizes some of the major pieces of evidence concerning the archeological clay tokens, specifically the technique for their manufacture, their geographic distribution, chronology, and the context in which they are found. Discusses the interpretation of tokens as the first example of visible language, particularly as an antecedent of Sumerian…

The practice of archaeology includes of a series of events in which a group of objects is transformed from their initial identities as household goods, religious objects, or detritus of everyday life into artifacts, or as the 1906 Antiquities Act describes them, "objects of antiquity." Frequently, artifacts are further re-identified as part of a…

Just as a contemporary professional person maintains copies of wills, real estate records, and court decrees, so did 15th-century B.C. residents of the ancient city of Nuzi. Such documents, then and now, are generally written by legal scribes. The Hittites of the 14th century B.C. maintained detailed manuals concerning the care and feeding of…

Discusses the Etruscans, the dearth of knowledge about them, and the information that can be ascertained from the artifacts available. (CK)

New information reveals that dinosaurs have a pelvic structure similar to that of animals that walk upright. Science teachers should remember that theories and assumptions are always provisional and tentative. (JN)

Provides a sample course outline and discussion of database use in college history instruction. Based on the use of DBASE II, this article includes a two-page listing of books and articles written to help people use DBASE II and III. (JDH)

Argues for the use of the archaeological metaphor as an apt one when examining the historical layers and foundational bases underlying much of the current thought and practice in science education. Suggests some sort of correspondence between archaeological and science education processes. (DDR)

Many Navajos, or Dines, and Native American people in general, are archaeologists or are becoming archaeologists. The distinction between "Native Americans" and "archaeologists" in academia, or elsewhere, is no longer accurate. This fact should not come as such a surprise. As the epigraph, a quote by Richard Begay,…

Industrial archaeology, a new branch of history that promotes an understanding of the industrial past by focusing on its physical remains and by combining the insights of field work and more traditional historical research, holds enormous potential for expanding historical consciousness and for linking history to a wider curriculum. (RM)

Compares the functional and exploitive impact of social stratification. A case study of the Mayan culture indicates that, as social inequality increases, the standard of living for the majority does not. (AM)