Editorial

Abstract

There are many sources easily available to those interested in uncovering parts of archaeology's past They range from the factual chronicle (as in Glyn Daniel's A Hundred Years of Archaeology), the personal essay, reminiscing about one's colleagues (as in Gordon R. Willey's Portraits in American Archaeology), the analysis of ideas and theory (as in Bruce G. Trigger's survey of centuries in his A History ofArchaeological Thought or Paul Corbin's Binford-bashing (inter alia) in What is Archaeology?, the romp through the deceptions and follies that have committed in archaeologies name (as in Stephen Williams' Fantastic Archaeology and, years ago, Robert Wauchope's Lost Tribes and Sunken Continents, to the landmark publications of archaeology's earlier years (such as Squier and Davis' Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley or John Aubrey's Monumenta Britannica. For a more personal approach (archaeology is done by people, after all), there are a wealth of biographies and autobiographies. A few of my favorites among those who have written about themselves and their work are the books by O.G.S. Crawford, Max Mallowan, Samuel Noah Kramer, J. Eric S. Thompson, and Mortimer Wheeler (what a varied group of people!). There are also many excellent biographies, such as those of Max Uhle by John H. Rowe, Augustus and Alice LePlongeon by Lawrence G. Desmond, and Phyllis M. Messenger, and Pitt Rivers by Mark Bowden, to mention only a few. All of these offer views into archaeology's history that are available in no other way.