Archaeological Ethics / Edition 2

by Karen D. Vitelli, Chip Colwell-Chanthaphonh, Roger Atwood, Michael Bawya, Maria Braden

Overview

The second edition of Archaeological Ethics is an invitation to an ongoing and lively discussion on ethics. In addition to topics such as looting, reburial and repatriation, relations with native peoples, and professional conduct, Vitelli and Colwell-Chanthaphonh have responded to current events and news stories. Twenty-one new articles expand this ongoing discussion into the realm of intellectual property, public outreach, archaeotourism, academic freedom, archaeological concerns in times of war, and conflicting values. These compelling articles, from Archaeology Magazine, American Archaeology, and Expedition are written for a general audience and provide a fascinating introduction to the issues faced every day in archaeological practice. The article summaries, discussion and research questions, and suggestions for further reading—particularly helpful given the vast increase in related literature over the last decade—serve as excellent teaching aids and make this volume ideal for classroom use.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780759109636
Publisher:	AltaMira Press
Publication date:	02/02/2006
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.08(w) x 9.12(h) x 0.51(d)

About the Author

Karen D. Vitelli is professor emerita of anthropology at Indiana University, Bloomington. Chip Colwell-Chanthaphonh is a visiting scholar at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction
Part 2 Part I: Who Owns the Past?
Chapter 3 Chapter 1: Archaeology and the Ethics of Collecting
Chapter 4 Chapter 2: Trafficking in Treasures
Chapter 5 Chapter 3: Guardians of the Dead
Chapter 6 Chapter 4: The World Wide Web of Antiquities
Chapter 7 Chapter 5: Faking Biblical History
Chapter 8 Chapter 6: Anasazi in the Backyard
Chapter 9 Chapter 7: Celebrating Twenty-Five Years of Preservation
Part 10 Part II: Archaeology and (Inter)National Politics
Chapter 11 Chapter 8: The Race to Save Afghan Culture
Chapter 12 Chapter 9: The War Within the War
Chapter 13 Chapter 10: Beirut Digs Out
Chapter 14 Chapter 11: Flashpoint Ayodhya
Chapter 15 Chapter 12: Cloak and Trowel
Part 16 Part III: Affected Peoples
Chapter 17 Chapter 13: People Without History
Chapter 18 Chapter 14: When Artifacts are Commodities
Chapter 19 Chapter 15: The Rape of Mali
Chapter 20 Chapter 16: Archaeotourism
Part 21 Part IV: Reburial, Repatriation, and Representation
Chapter 22 Chapter 17: Burying American Archaeology or Sharing Control of the Past—Burying American Archaeology; Sharing Control of the Past
Chapter 23 Chapter 18: Banned Books
Chapter 24 Chapter 19: Out of Heaviness, Enlightenment
Chapter 25 Chapter 20: Remembering Chelmno
Chapter 26 Chapter 21: The New Acropolis Museum
Part 27 Part V: The Professional Archaeologist
Chapter 28 Chapter 22: Archaeology's Dirty Secret
Chapter 29 Chapter 23: Intellectual Property Issues in Archaeology?
Chapter 30 Chapter 24: Lure of the Deep
Chapter 31 Chapter 25: Chronicler of Ice Age Life
Chapter 32 Chapter 26: Writing Unwritten History

Editorial Reviews

Issues in archaeological ethics are rarely black and white; by avoiding simplistic answers to complex issues, this volume teaches rather than preaches. Instead of focusing on answers, it helps archaeologists ask the right questions. It covers a wide range of archaeological issues, and encourages reflection on the reasons underlying them. No archaeologist can afford to ignore the issues this volume addresses, neither can they afford to assume they know the answers to the questions it poses. Steal this book!

Alex Barker

Vitelli and Colwell-Chanthaphonh have done an outstanding job updating an already significant collection of essays related to archaeological ethics. The authors address a wide span of issues that are relevant to the discipline. This volume is a major contribution to the field and it should become a standard text in the field. It is a must read for students and scholars.

Paul A. Shackel

The second edition of Archaeological Ethics is as enthralling, timely, and effective for teaching purposes as was the first. Beginning, in the Introduction, with a philosophical discussion of morals and ethics, subsequent chapters consider the facts and the problems of excavations, legal and illegal, in many parts of the world. While perhaps intended for archaeologists, this book provides an invaluable resource for all those who study and teach the history and peoples of the past.

Clemency Coggins

Ethics matter! Archaeology is too important, and what archaeologists do affects too many groups of people: we cannot just push ahead without really thinking through the consequences of what we do. This new edition updates this first-rate guide to what should be in all our minds.

Christopher Chippindale

Archaeological Ethics is a central text for our discipline and represents our global engagement with archaeology's many, diverse stakeholders.

Lynn Meskell

Articles are well-written....Both volumes present important analyses and case studies of ethical issues facing our discipline today.

Canadian Journal of Archaeology

With case-studies from around the world, this book demonstrates that archaeology is a field of considerable political currency. Topics discussed include, among many others, the rights and interests of indigenous people; demands for the reburial and repatriation of archaeological finds; looting, fakes, and the ethics of collecting; the archaeology of a Nazi extermination site; archaeologists as secret agents; saving cultural heritage in Afghanistan and Iraq; archaeology and religious fundamentalism; and the depiction of prehistory in Jean Auel's bestselling novels. Well-written throughout, each case-study engages readers far more than the usual academic writing. Challenging questions for discussion after each chapter make Archaeological Ethics an ideal textbook. The book is essential reading for students of many fields within the humanities and social sciences, and it will intrigue a general audience about the politics of the past in the modern world.

Cornelius Holtorf

Articles are well-written....Both volumes present important analyses and case studies of ethical issues facing our discipline today.

Canadian Journal Of Archaeology

Articles reprinted from Archaeology magazine and additional material comprise a reader for a graduate/undergraduate course that has been found to attract not only proto-professional and amateur archaeologists, but also a wide range of other students. Looting and collecting, responses to looting, cultural heritage, affected peoples, reburial and repatriation, and professional behavior are covered. Destined to become required reading for first offenders, as an alternative to expulsion from the association. No index. Paper edition (unseen), $18.95. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

Amongst practicing archaeologists, K. D. Vitelli is the premier scholar of archaeological ethics, and her student Chip Colwell-Chanthaphonh is following closely in her footsteps. Together they have put together a wholly revised second edition of Archaeological Ethics that is sure to become a standard handbook for both teachers and researchers. The range of articles in the book includes both the classical statements of issues as well as new considerations and theoretical developments, formulated neatly along with presentations of concrete examples of doing archaeology well at the same time that archaeologists 'do good.' Many members of the discipline, both Classical and New World archaeologists, have come to rely on Vitelli as a touchstone for understanding ethics in archaeology; needless to say, with her editorial work on this new volume, she has not let us down.

Anne Pyburn

Articles are well-written....Both volumes present important analyses and case studies of ethical issues facing our discipline today.

Canadian Journal of Archaeology - 2008

This book is an important volume, released at a time when archaeologists need to be talking about ethics. Vitelli and AltaMira Press have done a great service in making it available. An interesting and thought-provoking read for any archaeologist, it is a terrific resource for any instructor who wants to introduce ethics in the classroom.

American Antiquity - Mark J. Lynott

This small book belongs on the shelf of every archaeologist, and can serve as a basic resouce for anyone who teaches archaeology.... Archaeological Ethics is an important book. Buy it and read it.

Illinois Archaeology - Carol A. Morrow

These essays are short, grounded in engaging descriptions of concrete examples, accessible to a wide audience and highly topical. The great strength of the collection is the breadth of coverage it provides and the interconnections it brings into view, when its constituent essays are read together, between issues, dilemmas, and strategies of response that arise in diverse settings.

Public Archaeology Review

An excellent primer on the maze of complexities surrounding this issue. The book is a collection of articles culled from Archaeology Magazine that Vitelli put together after being frustrated by the lack of books that could be used in teaching classes on ethics.... Particularly useful is Vitelli's addition of a concise summary of each article and, especially, a series of questions at the end of each.

Journal of Field Archaeology

An excellent primer on the maze of complexities surrounding this issue. The book is a collection of articles culled from Archaeology Magazine that Vitelli put together after being frustrated by the lack of books that could be used in teaching classes on ethics.... Particularly useful is Vitelli's addition of a concise summary of each article and, especially, a series of questions at the end of each.

Journal Of Field Archaeology

This book is an important volume, released at a time when archaeologists need to be talking about ethics. Vitelli and AltaMira Press have done a great service in making it available. An interesting and thought-provoking read for any archaeologist, it is a terrific resource for any instructor who wants to introduce ethics in the classroom.
— Mark J. Lynott

American Antiquity

This small book belongs on the shelf of every archaeologist, and can serve as a basic resouce for anyone who teaches archaeology.... Archaeological Ethics is an important book. Buy it and read it.
— Carol A. Morrow, Southeast Missouri State University

Illinois Archaeology