Skip to main content
View Cart

Books in Arts and humanities

Elsevier's Arts and Humanities titles encompass a rich spectrum of scholarship that explores human culture, history, philosophy, and creative expression. These works offer deep insights into language, literature, visual arts, and critical theory, supporting the academic community in understanding diverse perspectives and cultural legacies. Designed for scholars, educators, and students, this collection bridges classic studies with contemporary issues, fostering a deeper appreciation and knowledge of the human experience.

  • Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory

    Volume 9
    • 1st Edition
    • June 30, 2014
    • Michael B Schiffer
    • English
    Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, Volume 9 is a collection of papers that describes protohuman culture, pastoralism, artifact classification, and the use of materials science techniques to study the construction of pottery. Some papers discuss contingency tables, geophysical methods of archaeological site surveying, and predictive models for archaeological resource location. One paper reviews the methodological and theoretical advances in the archaeological studies of human origins, particularly covering the Plio-Pleistocene period. Another paper explains the historic and prehistoric development of pastoralism through archaeological investigation. One paper traces the three phases of artifact classification, each being a representation of a different attitude and approach. Another paper evaluates pottery artifacts using a number of basic materials-science concepts and analytic approaches, toward the study of their mechanical strength; and also reviews their use in archaeological studies of pottery production and organization. To investigate archaeological intrasites, the archaeologist can use different specialized methods such as seismic, electromagnetic, resistivity, magnetometry, and radar. Another paper describes various empiric correlative models for locational prediction developed in both contexts of cultural resource management and academic research. Sociologists, anthropologist, ethnographers, museum curators, professional or amateur archaeologists will find the collection immensely valuable.

  • Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory

    Volume 3
    • 1st Edition
    • June 30, 2014
    • Michael B Schiffer
    • English
    Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, Volume 3 presents the progressive explorations in methods and theory in archeology. This book discusses the general cultural significance of cult archeology. Organized into nine chapters, this volume begins with an overview of the spectrum of professional reactions to cult archeology. This text then examines the applicability of evolutionary theory to archeology. Other chapters consider the fundamental principles of adaptation as applied to human behavior and review the state of application of adaptational approaches in archeology. This book discusses as well the convergence of evolutionary and ecological perspectives in anthropology that has given rise to a distinct concept of culture. The final chapter deals with obsidian dating as a chronometric method and explains the problems that limit its effectiveness. This book is a valuable resource for archeologists and anthropologists. Graduate students and archeology students will also find this book extremely useful.

  • Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory

    Volume 8
    • 1st Edition
    • June 30, 2014
    • Michael B Schiffer
    • English
    Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, Volume 8 is a collection of papers that discusses postprocessual archaeology, bone technology, and tree-ring dating in Eastern North America. One paper discriminates between the process and norm, and eliminates the dichotomy by locating human agency and the active. It focuses on monitoring individuals as being in the center of social theory. Another paper discuses the physical model and the textual model that describe the basic components of an archaeological record. For example, the first model implies that archaeological inferences move from material components of the record to material phenomena in the past. The second model assumes that archaeological inference should move from material phenomena to mental phenomena, from material symbols to the ideas and beliefs they encode. Another paper explains the use of analogy as a useful tool in archaeological considerations. One paper investigates bones as a material for study, including the analysis of carnivore-induced fractures or hominid-induced modifications from using bones as tools. The collection is suitable for sociologists, anthropologist, professional or amateur archaeologists, and museum curators studying archaeological artifacts.

  • Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory

    Volume 1
    • 1st Edition
    • June 30, 2014
    • Michael B Schiffer
    • English
    Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, Volume 1 presents the progressive explorations in methods and theory in archeology. This book discusses the strategy for appraising significance, which is needed to maximize the preservation and wise use of cultural resources. Organized into 10 chapters, this volume begins with an overview of planning for the best long-term use of cultural resources, which is the essence of conservation archeology. This text then examines importance of the concept in cultural ecological studies. Other chapters consider the methods used in determining the density, size, and growth rate of human populations. This book discusses as well the use of demographic variables in archeological explanation. The final chapter deals with the decisions that must be made in designing a survey and to identify the alternative consequences for data recovery of various strategies. This book is a valuable resource for archeologists and planners.

  • Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory

    Volume 4
    • 1st Edition
    • June 30, 2014
    • Michael B Schiffer
    • English
    Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, Volume 4 presents the progressive explorations in methods and theory in archeology. This book discusses the increasing application of surface collection in cultural resource management. Organized into eight chapters, this volume begins with an overview of the fundamental aspects of archeoastronomy and explains what kinds of testable hypotheses that archeoastronomy generates. This text then examines the general implications for the study of cultural complexity. Other chapters consider the use of surface artifacts by archeologists to locate sites, establish regional culture histories, and to know where to excavate within sites. This book discusses as well the interpretative interfaces between archeology on the one hand, and ethnohistory and ethnology on the other, that is based on a theoretical stance advocating a fundamental holistic approach to anthropology. The final chapter deals with understanding the ecology of ancient organisms. This book is a valuable resource for archeologists and anthropologists.

  • Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory

    Volume 5
    • 1st Edition
    • June 30, 2014
    • Michael B Schiffer
    • English
    Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, Volume 5 presents the progressive explorations in methods and theory in archeology. This book provides information pertinent to the developments in urban archeology. Organized into nine chapters, this volume begins with an overview of cultural resource management developed to assess the significance of, and to manage the cultural resources on public lands. This text then explores the basic aspects of natural and human-caused changes on the portion of the archaeological resource base consisting of archaeological sites. Other chapters consider the practice of urban archeology in the United States, with emphasis on the relationships between human behavior and material culture in an urban setting. This book discusses as well the applications of computer graphics in archeology. The final chapter deals with the types of skeletal and population changes that accompany malnutrition. This book is a valuable resource for anthropologist, archaeologists, urban planners, and graduate students.

  • Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory

    Volume 11
    • 1st Edition
    • June 30, 2014
    • Michael B Schiffer
    • English
    Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, Volume 11 is a collection of papers that discusses world systems theory, modeling interregional interaction in prehistory, and the archaeological analysis of ceramics. Some papers review dating and weathering of inorganic materials, strategies for paleo-environmental reconstruction, as well as deposits and depositional events. One paper reviews the Old World state formation that occurred in West Asia during the fourth and third millennia B.C. Another paper examines the role of interactions among societies in the process of local social change, and the need for archaeologists to develop a framework in which to analyze intersocietal interaction processes. The presence of items such as ceramics is associated directly to factors of availability, functions, economic values, or ethnic affiliation. As an example, one paper cites the use and misuse of English and American ceramics in archaeological analysis in identifying cultural patterns and human behavior. Another paper notes that each biological or mechanical agent of transport and deposition has its own respective attributes on a deposit where the attributes of sedimentary particles on the deposit can be defined. From such definitions, the archaeologists can make observations and inferences. Sociologists, anthropologist, ethnographers, museum curators, professional or amateur archaeologists, and academicians studying historical antiquities will find the collection very useful.

  • Behavior of Nonhuman Primates

    Modern Research Trends
    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 1
    • June 28, 2014
    • Allan M. Schrier + 2 more
    • English
    Behavior of Nonhuman Primates: Modern Research Trends, Volume I focuses on studies on the dynamics of behavior of nonhuman primates. The selection first offers information on discrete-trial training techniques and stimulus variables and discrimination-learn... sets. Discussions focus on the characteristics of learning-set behavior, procedural variables, basic learning-set procedures, renaissance of contiguity, border cues and additivity, and contiguity and automation. The text then ponders on hypothesis behavior and delayed-response problem, including variations of the delayed-response problem; delayed response and discrimination learning contrasted; and the hypothesis model and its application to the object-discriminatio... experiment. The manuscript examines associative problems and operant conditioning. Topics include discriminative behavior, similarity and dissimilarity problems, alternation problems, discrimination reversal problems, discrimination problems, and behavior controlled by aversive stimuli. The text is a valuable reference for researchers interested in the behavior of nonhuman primates.

  • Speech and Language

    Advances in Basic Research and Practice
    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 4
    • June 28, 2014
    • Norman J. Lass
    • English
    Speech and Language: Volume 4, Advances in Basic Research and Practice is a collection of papers that deals with the theories, clinical issues, and pathology of language and speech. Several papers discuss nonlinguistic and linguistic processing in children, phonological development in infants, and the development of speech fluency in children. Other papers examine the four major speech production models, the physiological and acoustical aspects of speech adaptation, spatial-temporal model of velopharyngeal function, and variations in the supraglottal air pressure waveform. One paper notes the relationships of two systems of development as follows: language development is dependent upon cognitive products and cognitive development is dependent upon language development. Such relationship leads to the hypotheses that language and cognitive developments are independent, are interdependent, and are both dependent upon some X abilities. One paper suggests that speech clinicians should have as a goal the achievement of speech that is as normal as possible in all respects, and not just for patients to sound normal. The collection will benefit linguists, ethnologists, psychologists, speech therapists, neurologists, neuropsychologists, neurolinguists, or speech pathologists.

  • Contexts for Prehistoric Exchange

    • 1st Edition
    • June 28, 2014
    • PERISIC
    • English
    Contexts for Prehistoric Exchange is a collection of papers that discusses the theoretical and methodological approaches in understanding the parameters of regional exchange from both the Old and New Worlds. The papers deal with the sourcing of exchange material, spatial patterning, the modeling of exchange, production for exchange, consumption, and symbolic contexts. One paper evaluates the different laboratory techniques for analyzing archaeological materials, their efficiency, "cost," range of applicability, and the mathematical usefulness of the data toward the research. Another paper describes the prehistoric obsidian used throughout New Mexico, and applies mathematical representations of the procurement strategies associated with the different obsidian source areas or time periods. The paper then incorporates these analyses with available bodies of theories on raw-material procurement and exchange. Through an analysis of stylistic and technological attributes of southwestern ceramics, one paper notes that inferring exchange on the basis of stylistic similarity does not always lead to a simple correlation between stylistic distributions and patterns of material exchange. Another paper suggests that ethnohistory and archaeology in Andean exchange can be complementary approaches to the discovery of patterns, processes, and change/exchange of other systems. The collection can prove beneficial for archaeologists, anthropologist, sociologists, and researchers interested in the pre-history of the Old World or New World.

Related subjects