Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology

This second edition of the multi-volume work goes beyond the comprehensive and systematic coverage of archaeology that appears in the first edition. The field of archaeology continues to grow and the collaborations between archaeologists and researchers in other areas - environmental studies, landscape studies, art history, demography, biomedicine, chemistry, museum specialists, etc. - continues to grow.

This second edition will build on the massive collection of information and research from the first edition by adding new entries as well as updating the existing entries.

The entries in this encyclopedia range from succinct summaries of specific sites and the scientific aspects of archaeological enquiry to detailed discussions of archaeological concepts, theories and methods, and from investigations into the social, ethical and political dimensions of archaeological practice to biographies of leading archaeologists from throughout the world. The different forms of archaeology are explored, along with the techniques used for each and the challenges, concerns and issues that face archaeologists today.

This compendium is both a print reference and an online reference work. The encyclopedia's second major innovation is that it harnesses the capabilities of an online environment, enhancing both the presentation and dissemination of information. Most particularly, the continuous updating allowed by an online environment should ensure that the Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology is a definitive reference work for archaeology and archaeologists.

Professor Claire Smith is a faculty member of the Department of Archaeology, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia. She has been awarded research fellowships from the Australian Research Council and the Fulbright Commission, the latter hosted by the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum for Natural History and American University, Washington, D.C. Dr Smith has held visiting teaching or research appointments at the University of Newcastle, Australia, and at Columbia University, New York.

Dr. Smith’s main field of research is Indigenous archaeology. While she has conducted fieldwork with Indigenous groups in Asia and North America, her primary research interest lies with the archaeology of art and of modern material practices, explored through fieldwork with Aboriginal people from the Barunga region of the Northern Territory, Australia. She conducts research into the reshaping and relocation of Indigenous knowledge, explored in collaboration with Ngadjuri people from South Australia.

Dr Smith has broad international experience. She has been a visiting scholar at several institutions in the US and in South Africa, and has given lectures in Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, England, France, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Morocco, New Zealand, Nigeria, Palau, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, South Africa, the USA and Wales.

As the twice-elected President of the World Archaeological Congress (2003-2008 and 2008-2014), Dr Smith has been in a position to develop a close understanding of the strengths and limitations of archaeological theory and practice in different parts of the world. She found that cutting-edge archaeological theory is being progressed by Spanish and Portuguese-speaking scholars in South America; that world-leading conservation techniques are developed in Japan and Italy; and that Russian and Arabic scholars have deep knowledge of their own cultural heritage, but their work is rarely published in English. This understanding became Dr Smith’s inspiration for an encyclopedia that is truly global in content.