Archaeology: A Reconsideration of Some Basic Concepts and Theories: Collected Works of Zhang Guangzhi

Author: Zhang Guangzhi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-02-01
Features: This book is one of the important works of the renowned archaeologist Zhang Guangzhi. It systematically organizes the methods and theories of archaeology. Zhang Guangzhi graduated from the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at National Taiwan University in his early years, studying under the famous scholar Li Ji. He later obtained his Ph.D. from Harvard University and served as a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and a professor in the Department of Anthropology at Harvard University. In the early 1960s, when the New Archaeology movement was taking shape in the United States, Zhang Guangzhi deeply engaged in the theoretical debates of the time. His insightful and logically structured explanations of concepts such as ethnicity, settlement, and culture greatly broadened the perspectives of his contemporaries and successors. This book is one of the products of those debates, primarily focusing on the nature of archaeology as a discipline, its fundamental concepts, and theoretical frameworks. Although it occasionally uses specific examples from the history of archaeology and archaeology in China and abroad, these are purely intended to highlight and clarify the theoretical concepts. It can be said that the theory of archaeology is the soul of this book, and the book itself laid the foundation and soul for the brilliant academic achievements of the late Mr. Zhang Guangzhi.