Archaeological Bibliography

The following references are aimed at children as well as teenagers, adults, students and the amateur archaeologists who wish to discover or broaden their knowledge of archaeology. We made sure to gather the most recent books and articles in order to give the most complete overview possible of what archaeology is as the science of the man-made object for men to use. Many important books and articles exist in other languages, but we have prioritized English-speaking texts. However, you will find also references in French and in other languages when it was needed. The division of the more specialized part answers a desire to distinguish what is specific to archaeology and what archaeologists use from other disciplines.

Quick critical bibliography to approach archaeology

Works and general articles

• Aaltonen, Gaynor. Archaeology: Discovering the World’s Secrets. 4e éd. London: Arcturus Publishing Limited, 2021.
• “Secrets to Archaeology: Top 10 Frequently Asked Questions Answered” by Keirsten E. Snover, October 19th, 2020 – personal web site of a Master degree anthropologist.
• To find an archaeology magazines in english around the world use Wikipedia category.
• To discover some words related to Archaeology.

For children and pre-teens and teachers
Youth literature about archaeology and educational resources

• For 3 to 6 years old
  • Taylor, Dan, and The Smithsonian Institute. Little Archaeologist: A Science Tots Book. Running Press Kids, 2021.
  • Hartland, Jessie. How the Sphinx Got to the Museum. Maplewood: Blue Apple Books, 2010.
  • Kate Duke. Archaeologists Dig for Clues. New York, N.Y.: HarperCollins, 2010.
  • Dominic Perring. Then and Now: The Wonders of the Ancient World Brought to Life in Vivid See-through Reconstructions. Macmillan General Reference, 1991.
  • Gransard-Desmond J.-O., Mon cahier d’archéologie 5-8 ans, Fedora, Novembre 2017. Activity book in french for children between 5 to 8 years old who do are not readers.
• From 7-9 years old
  • Claudia Logan and Melissa Sweet. The 5,000-Year-Old Puzzle: Solving a Mystery of Ancient Egypt. Don Mills, Ont.: Pearson Education Canada, 2008.
  • Christopher Catling. A Practical Handbook of Archaeology: A Beginner’s Guide to Unearthing the Past, 2017.
  • Richard Panchyk. Archaeology for Kids: Uncovering the Mysteries of Our Past : 25 Activities. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2001.
  • Jane McIntosh. Archeology. Eyewitness Books. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994.
  • Dominic Perring. Then and Now: The Wonders of the Ancient World Brought to Life in Vivid See-through Reconstructions. Macmillan General Reference, 1991.
  • Gransard-Desmond J.-O., Mon cahier d’archéologie 5-8 ans, Fedora, Novembre 2017. Activity book in french for children between 5 to 8 years old who do are not readers.
• From 10-16 years old
  • Christopher Catling. A Practical Handbook of Archaeology: A Beginner’s Guide to Unearthing the Past, 2017.
  • Anita Yasuda and Lena Chandhok. Archaeology Cool Women Who Dig, 2017.
  • Simon Adams. Archaeology Detectives: Uncovering the Past. 1st ed. Hauppauge, N.Y.: Barron’s, 2009.
  • Philip Ardagh. The Archaeologists’ Handbook. The Insider’s Guide to Digging up the Past. London: Faber and Faber, 2015.
  • Gaynor Aaltonen. Archaeology: Discovering the World’s Secrets. 4th ed. London: Arcturus Publishing Limited, 2021.
  • Angibous-Esnault Ch., Panique au château et autres aventures archéologiques d’Augustin,Tautem, 2019. 3 novels for french readers between 10 to 14 year old.
  • Gransard-Desmond J.-O., Mon cahier d’archéologie dès 8 ans, Fedora, 2018. Activity book in french for children between 8 to 14 years old who are french readers.

Guidebooks for archaeology students

• Grant J., Gorin S. and Fleming N., The archaeology coursebook: an introduction to study skills, topics and methods, London, 2005.
• Renfrew C. and Bahn P. G., Archaeology: theories, methods, and practice, Thames and Hudson, London, 2016.
• To find archaeological organizations across the world
• To find academics publications around the world

For the most specialists

Theory in science

• Popper, Karl R. The Logic of Scientific Discovery. New York: Basic Books, 1954.
• Kuhn, Thomas S. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. International Encyclopedia of Unified Science I‑II. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962.
• To know more about the topic, go to Philosophy of science on Wikipedia

Theory in archaeology

• Andrew J., Archaeological theory and scientific practice, Cambridge, 2002.
• Binford, L.R. An archaeological perspective, New York, Seminar Press, 1972.
• Bruneau Ph. et Balut P.-Y., Artistique et archéologie. Mémoires d’Archéologie Générale, Paris, 1997.
• Hodder, Ian and John Wiley & Sons. Entangled: An Archaeology of the Relationships between Humans and Things. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013.
• Johnson M., Archaeological theory. An introduction, Malden (MA), 2000.
• Lull V., Los objetos distinguidos. La arqueologia como excusa, Serie general universitaria 68, Barcelona, 2007.

The approach in archaeology

• Renfrew C. and Bahn P. G., Archaeology: theories, methods, and practice, Thames and Hudson, London, 2016.
• Domingo I., Burke H. y Smith Cl., Manual de campo del arqueologo, 2007.
• Hermon S. et Fabian P., « Virtual reconstruction of archaeological sites. Some archaeological scientific considerations (Avdat roman military camp as a case-study) », in : Niccolucci F. (éd.), Virtual archaeology, BAR-IS 1075, proceedings of the VAST Euroconference, Arezzo 24-25 November 2000, Oxford, 2002, p. 103-108.
• Maschner D. G. and Chippindale Ch., Handbook of archaeologial methods, New York, 2005.
• Matthieu J. R., Experimental archaeology: replicating past objects, behaviors, and processes, BAR-IS 1035, Oxford, 2002.
• Mcintosh J., The practical archaeologist. How we know what we know about the past, 1999.
• Niccolucci F., Virtual archaeology, BAR-IS 1075, proceedings of the VAST Euroconference, Arezzo 24-25 November 2000, Oxford, 2002.
• Niccolucci F. et Hermon S., « A fuzzy logic approach to reliability in archaeological virtual reconstruction », in : Proceedings of the 32nd International Conference on Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology Conference, CAA 2004, 13-17 April, 2004, Prato, Italy, Budapest, In press.
• Papaconstantinou D., Deconstructing Context: A Critical Approach to Archaeological Practice, Oxford, 2006.
• Pearsall D. M., Encyclopedia of Archaeology, Oxford, 2008.
• Preucel R. W., Archaeological Semiotics (social archaeology), Malden (MA), 2006.
• Saraydar S. C., Replicating the past. The art and science of the archaeological experiment, Long Grove (IL), 2008.

The archaeologist’s tools

• Access to the legal and free platform for consulting and downloading art history and archaeology books in English, French, Italian, etc. from various institutions The Getty Research Portal™.
• PACTOLS is a polyhierarchical, multilingual, standardized and interoperable with almost 60,000 concepts organized in 6 micro-thesauri (see groups or collections) with eponymous titles (Peoples and Cultures, Anthroponyms, Chronology, Toponyms, Works, Places, Topics).
• Balfet H., Fauvet-Berthelot M.-F. et Monzon S., Lexique et typologie des poteries. Pour la normalisation de la description des poteries, Paris, 1989.
• Benko H., Ishak E. W. et Feiner S., « Collaborative mixed reality visualization of an archaeological excavation », in : Proceedings of the International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR 04), 3rd IEEE and ACM International Symposium on Volume, 2-5 nov. 2004, 2004, p. 132-140.
• Carver, M. O. H. Making archaeology happen: design versus dogma. Walnut Creek, Calif: Left Coast Press, 2011.
• Clarke D. L., Models in archaeology, Londres, 1972.
• Collectif, Dictionnaire de la Préhistoire, Paris, 1999.
• Daumas M., L’archéologie industrielle en France, Paris, 1980.
• Deutsch Archeological Institut, Layers of perception. Advanced technological means to illuminate our past, Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology Conference, Berlin, 2-6 april 2007, Berlin, 2007.
• Djindjian Fr., Méthodes pour l’archéologie, Paris, 1991.
• Green D., Cosmas J., Itagaki T., Waelkens M., Degeest R. et Grabczewski E., « A real time 3D stratigraphic visual simulation system for archaeological analysis and hypothesis testing », in : Proceedings of Virtual reality, archaeology and cultural heritage (VAST), Glyfada, Nr Athens, Greece, november 28-30 2001, New York, 2001, p. 271-277.
• Griffiths N., Jenner A. et Wilson A., Drawing archaeological finds, 1990.
• Hawker J. M., A manual of archaeological field drawing, 2001.
• Kipfer B. A., The archaeologist’s fieldwork companion, Malden (MA), 2008.
• Shanks, Michael, and Connie, Svabo. “Archaeology and photography”. In: Reclaiming archaeology: beyond the tropes of modernity. Archaeological orientations. Milton Park,
• Abingdon ; N.Y: Routledge, 2013, p. 89‑102.
• Willems, Willem J. H, and van den Dries, Monique H. Quality Management in Archaeology. Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2007.

Epistemology (History of archaeology)

• Bahn, Paul (ed.). Cambridge Illustrated History of Archaeology. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 1999.
• Edsel, Robert M, and Witter, Bret. The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History, 2014.
• Fagan B. M., A brief history of archaeology. Classical times to the twenty-first century, New Jersey, 2005.
• Trigger B. G., A history of archaeological thought, Cambridge, 2006.
• Renfrew C. and Bahn P. G., Archaeology: theories, methods, and practice, Thames and Hudson, London, 2016.

Archaeology and society

• Carver, M. O. H. Making archaeology happen: design versus dogma. Walnut Creek, Calif: Left Coast Press, 2011.
• Meskell, Lynn, and Pels, Peter. Embedding Ethics, 2006.
• Willems, Willem J. H, and van den Dries, Monique H. Quality Management in Archaeology. Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2007.

Legislation – World

• Carman, John. “Legislation in Archaeology: Overview and Introduction”. In: Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, edited by Claire Smith, p. 4469‑84. New York, NY: Springer New York, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_276.

To know more about this topic, have a look on

• World Customs Organization (WCO) – www.wcoomd.org
• International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), a non-governmental international organisation dedicated to the conservation of the world’s monuments and sites – www.icomos.org
• UNESCO, fight illicit trafficking website – www.en.unesco.org

The tools from other disciplines applied to archaeology

Biology

• Evans J. G., An introduction to environmental archaeology. London, 1978.

Ethnology

• Birx, H. James. Encyclopedia of Anthropology, Thousand Oaks, California: Sage, 2006.
• Hodder I. Symbols in action. Ethnoarchaeological studies of material culture. Cambridge, 1982.

Geology – stratigraphy

• Gasche, H. and Tunca, Ö. Guide de classification et de terminologie archéostratigraphique : définitions et principes, PICG 146/2, Liège, 1981.
• Harris E. C., Principles of Archaeological Stratigraphy, London, 1979.
• Margueron J.-Cl., « Stratigraphie et architecture de terre », Syria 63, 1968, p. 257-271.

Mathematics – statistics

• Chenorkian R., Pratique archéologique, statistique et graphique, Méthodes et techniques, Paris, 1996.
• Fletcher M. et Lock G. R., Digging numbers: elementary statistics for archaelogists, Monograph 33, Oxford, 2005.

Physics applied to archaeology

• Renfrew C. and Bahn P. G., Archaeology: theories, methods, and practice, Thames and Hudson, London, 2016, p. 71-120 and bibliography at p. 589-592 for surveying and p. 121-166 and bibliography at p. 593-596 for dating.