Archaeology and World Prehistory: Unearthing Our Past

Review

A well written and curated textbook, employing clear but precise language that facilitates thorough comprehension for students and professionals alike. -- Victoria Olajide[Archaeology and World Prehistory: Unearthing Our Past] introduces the development of sociopolitical complexity―a topic that undergraduates often find daunting―in an accessible way. Interweaving cultures and scholarly debates from multiple areas of the world, this textbook would represent a thought-provoking addition to World Prehistory classes. -- Mallory A. MeltonThis book is well written and very approachable to a student interacting with archaeology and this particular aspect of archaeology for the first time. -- William A. FarleyA really great book for an introductory-level course! It′s breezy, factual, and well-illustrated. -- John D. SeebachA four-field approach to introducing archaeology, with clear and readable language. Probably one of the most relevant texts I′ve seen. I′d adopt it now if possible. -- Ryan K. McNuttArchaeology and World Prehistory provides an introduction to the field through the examination of history of the world and how we know what we know. This book takes an interdisciplinary approach, emphasizing cross-cultural comparison as opposed to the topical framework used in my current text. -- Jessica YannThis book is a perfect mix between a more theoretical approach and a world history textbook. Archaeology and World Prehistory will make learning more approachable for students, as it teaches them the tools needed to understand how archaeology works without coming across as repetitive. -- Isabel MaggianoThis book is designed for both anthropology and non-anthropology majors and presents different theoretical perspectives while combating essentialism and ethnocentrism within the field. -- Nathan Lawres

Archaeology and World Prehistory: Unearthing Our Past

Christopher R. DeCorse is a distinguished professor and chair of the Department of Anthropology in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University. He received his B.A. in anthropology with a minor in history from the University of New Hampshire, before completing his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in archaeology at the University of California―Los Angeles. His research interests include African archaeology and history, general anthropology, and archaeology in popular culture.  Dr. DeCorse has excavated a variety of prehistoric and historic period sites in the United States, the Caribbean, and Africa, but his primary area of research has been in the archaeology, history, and ethnography of Africa. Dr. DeCorse has taught archaeology and general anthropology in undergraduate and graduate programs at the University of Ghana, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and Syracuse University. His academic honors and awards include: the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Award for Outstanding Teaching, Research and Service; the William Wasserstrom Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching; and the Syracuse University Excellence in Graduate Education Faculty Recognition Award.Dr. DeCorse is particularly interested in making archaeology more accessible to general audiences. In addition to the single-authored physical anthropology and archaeology textbook The Record of the Past: An Introduction to Physical Anthropology and Archaeology, he coauthored with Brian Fagan, the eleventh edition of In the Beginning: An Introduction to Archaeology.  He is currently completing a book examining the presentation of archaeologists and archaeology in popular culture. Dr. DeCorse’s academic publications include more than sixty articles, book chapters, and research notes in a variety of publications, including The African Archaeological Review, Historical New Hampshire, Historical Archaeology, the Journal of African Archaeology, and Slavery and Abolition. Volumes on his research in Africa include An Archaeology of Elmina: Africans and Europeans on the Gold Coast 1400–1900 (Smithsonian Institution Press, 2001) and the edited volume, West Africa during the Atlantic Slave Trade: Archaeological Perspectives (Bloomsbury, 2016). His most recent books include Fringe Archaeology: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Past (Cognella 2025), Anthropology: A Global Perspective, 9th Edition (with Raymond Scupin, SAGE 2021), and the edited volumes that deal with Europe’s entanglements with the non-Western World: Power, Political Economy, and Historical Landscapes of the Modern World: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (Fernand Braudel Center Studies in Historical Social Science, SUNY Press, 2019) and British Forts and Their Communities: Archaeological and Historical Perspectives, with Zachary J. M. Beier (University Press of Florida, 2018).