The Practical Archaeologist
by Jane McIntosh

Publisher:  Checkmark Books
ISBN:  0816039518

Jane McIntosh's second edition of The Practical Archaeologist, subtitled "How we know what we know about the past," is an excellent example of the arcane art of distilling all of archaeology into an attractive, readable package; as a bonus, it is under 200 pages long and under $20 US. Directed to the beginning student, The Practical Archaeologist would also find an audience in interested amateurs, or anyone fired up by the Indiana Jones movies. Originally produced by the Paul Press of London, the book has a clearly Western, primarily British slant to it; professional archaeologists will most likely fret at the necessary simplification of many of the concepts. But on the whole, this is a highly successful book at presenting the science of archaeology to the general public.

K. Kris Hirst, your Guide for Archaeology