Books in the Duckworth Debates in Archaeology series

Museums and museum politics were important elements in the development of the disciplines of Archaeology and Art History in nineteenth-century Britain. This title explores some of the key debates and events which led to the conceptual differentiation and physical separation of 'archaeological' and 'artistic' material culture.

Al-Andalus, the Iberian Islamic civilization centred on Cordoba in the tenth and eleventh centuries, has been a 'lost' civilization in several respects. This book takes a comparative civilizations approach that puts the formation of Al-Andalus in context with corresponding developments elsewhere in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

Examines the visual aspects of the archaeological evidence to investigate the role that visuality - the visual quality of things - played in the expression of the self, in interaction between members of social groups, in ritual activity, and in the creation and experience of cultural landscapes.

Presents a critical yet positive approach to how contemporary conceptual outlooks, if unacknowledged, can seriously influence our understanding of the past. This book presents an exploration and evaluation of conceptual categories, of significance to archaeology, such as: age, experience, emotion, the senses, distance, and colour.

Features the archaeological findings from key ports throughout the Indian Ocean - the Red Sea, South Arabia, the Gulf and India - to offer a picture of the relations between East and West. This work focuses on ordinary artefacts that uncover a network of Romans, Arabs, Sasanians and Indians who participated in the trade.

Traces the development of 'community archaeology', identifying both its advantages and disadvantages by describing how and why tensions have arisen between archaeological and community understandings of the past.

Shows how wetland studies can be contextualised within geographical, cultural and theoretical frameworks. This book discusses how wetland archaeological discoveries can be understood in terms of past people's perception and understanding of landscape, which was not only a source of economic benefit, but a storehouse of cultural values and beliefs.