476 pp., ISBN 0 521 66105 6.Ethnoarchaeology in Action by Nicholas David and Carol Kramer is a unique and compelling book. Although there are many articles summarizing the history and or theory of ethnoarchaeology (Gould 1978;Gould and Watson 1982;MacEachern, 1996Wylie, 1985 and books and articles on topical issues such as fauna (Hudson, 1993), space (Kent, 1984), and most commonly ceramics (Kramer, 1985), David and Kramer's comprehensive book provides history, method, theory, and a critical synthesis of some of the major contributions ethnoarchaeological research makes to archaeology. The book contains 14 chapters, which are accompanied by beautifully executed, and enlightening photographs, illustrations, maps and occasionally data charts.
HISTORY, THEORY, AND METHODChapters 1, 2, and 3 provide the history, theory, and method of ethnoarchaeological studies. Importantly, these chapters illustrate the significance of ethnoarchaeology and the dependence of all archaeologists on analogy to recreate the past. Every student of archaeology should read chapters 2 and 3.In Chapter 1, David and Kramer's historical review effectively demonstrates that the paradigmatic trajectory of ethnoarchaeological studies often lead us in new directions for interpretation and the use of analogy in archaeology. They divide the history of ethnoarchaeology into four periods. Although the authors note the first use of the term ethno-archaeologists by Fewkes in 1900, their Initial Period marking the first phase begins in 1956. This date honors Kleindienst and Watson's Action Archaeology article (Kleindienst and Watson, 1956), which beckons archaeologists into the subdiscipline. Much of the literature debates the position of the subdiscipline and the meaning and use of analogy and inference within archaeology in a period.