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John Fox here offers a fresh and persuasive view of the crucial Classic-Postclassic transition that determined the shape of the later Maya state.

This book develops a theory of ceramics which elucidates the complex relationship between ceramics and culture and society. Drawing on the theoretical perspectives of systems theory, cybernetics and cultural ecology, Dr Arnold develops cross-cultural generalizations to explain the origins and evolution of the craft of pottery making.

Anna Maria Bietti Sestieri, one of the finest Italian protohistorians, deals in this monograph with a major archaeological site, the Iron Age cemetery of Osteria dell'Osa, near Rome. The cemetery materials provide rich insights into the emergence of the city-state in central Italy in the crucial period 900-580 BC.

This study of the changing relationships between burial rituals and social structure in Early Iron Age Greece draws upon the ancient literary evidence and the relevant historical and anthropological comparisons to explain the transition to the city-state. It will be an invaluable resource for all archaeologists working with burial evidence, in whatever period.

Problems in Neolithic Archaeology is a notable contribution to the debate about how we can write prehistory. Drawing on both processual and post-processual approaches, it reaffirms the central role of theory and interpretation while accepting as permanent the uncertainty which makes the testing of archaeological hypotheses difficult or even impossible.

The particular fascination of Maya archaeology is featured alongside developments of more general interest in anthropological archaeology to make a substantial contribution to the practice and theory of settlement studies within complex societies.

In this revised and updated 1993 edition of a book first published in 1981, the authors synthesize recent research to provide a comprehensive survey of Mesoamerica, one of the most important areas for research into the emergence of complex human societies.

First published in 1982, this book presents the results of a series of field investigations carried out in Kenya, Zambia and the Sudan into the 'archaeological' remains and material culture of contemporary small-scale societies, and demonstrates the way in which objects are used as symbols within social action and within particular world views and ideologies.

Christopher Tilley integrates a wide range of evidence to recreate accessibly the lives of hunter-gatherers and farmers in Sweden and Denmark. His skilful fusion of archaeology and new anthropological approaches makes this book an original contribution to a widely debated topic.

This 1999 archaeological study considers traditional assumptions about social relationships in Greek households during the Classical and Hellenistic periods. It focuses on the domestic organisation of individual households, gender relations, and their links with outsiders and with the wider social structures of the city state, and how these changed with time.

This ethnoarchaeological study looks at contemporary household-scale ceramic production in several Mexican communities.