Resources

Learning about Stone Tools

  • Andrefsky Jr., W. 2005. Lithics: Macroscopic approaches to analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Manuals in Archaeology
    • A go-to book for learning the basics of describing and interpreting lithic technology
  • Shea, J. J. 2016. Stone Tools in Human Evolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
    • A good book that synthesizes archaeological methods with anthropological theory
  • Tostevin, G. B. 2013. Seeing Lithics: A Middle-Range Theory for Testing for Cultural Transmission in the Pleistocene. Oxbow Books
    • A more advanced book that proposes a method for testing "cultural similarity" among different stone too assemblages. Excellent manual for those interested in "attribute analysis".
  • Tostevin, G. B. 2011. Introduction to Special Issue: Reduction Sequence, Chaîne Opératoire, and Other Methods: The Epistemologies of Different Approaches to Lithic Analysis. PaleoAnthropology. 2011:293-296
    • Journal article that does a great job of exploring and explaining the differences (and similarities!) between "Chaîne Opératoire" and "Reduction Sequence" approaches towards lithic analysis
  • Surovell, T. A. 2010. Toward a Behavioral Ecology of Lithic Technology: Cases from Paleoindian Archaeology. University of Arizona Press
    • Excellent book about interpreting lithic technology within a behavioral ecological framework.

Learning about statistics and data science

  • The R stats package "swirl" is a great introduction for those who want to learn the basics of R.
  • I've uploaded a few tutorials/exercises on using tidyverse packages (dplyr and ggplot2) for organizing and plotting anthropological data that I developed with Dr. Jaap Saers (currently a postdoc studying trabecular bone at Cambridge University). Contact me if you have any questions about these!
  • Ben Marwick's github has a wealth of resources for R packages for archaeological applications .
  • Marwick, B. 2017 Computational reproducibility in archaeological research: Basic principles and a case study of their implementation. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 24(2), 424-450
    • Article that highlights the importance of reproducibility in archaeological research

Header Photo: T. Kahlert/SUNDASIA 2016