Archaeological Typology and Practical Reality

• List of figures; List of tables; The archaeologist's preface; The philosopher's preface; Part I. Introductory: 1. Beginning points; 2. Introductory theses; Part II. The Nature of Types and Typologies: 3. Dimensions and elements of 'typehood'; 4. Perceptual and conceptual foundations; 5. The dialectics of type formulation; 6. The nature of types; 7. The structure of typologies; 8. A synthetic definition of typology and type; Part III. Typology in Action: The Medieval Nubian Pottery Typology: 9. Origin and development of the Nubian typology; 10. Basic features of the Nubian typology; 11. The uses of the Nubian Typology; 12. Philosophical implications; Part IV. Pragmatics of Archaeological Typology: 13. The starting point: purpose; 14. The determinants of types: variables and attributes; 15. The making of types: formulation, designation and description; 16. The uses of type: typing and sorting; 17. The ordering of types: taxonomy and seriation; 18. Variation and variability in archaeological classifications; 19. The bottom line: practicality; 20. Principles of practical typology; 21. Information-theoretic formulations; Part V. Classification, Explanation and Theory: 22. The Typological Debate; 23. Issues and non-issues in the Typological Debate; 24. Conceptual problems; 25. The use and abuse of theory; 26. Paradigms and progress; Appendices; References; Index.

'… an excellent book … Because it contains an excellent overview of past archaeological classifactory approaches and critiques of typology as well as a clear discussion of what typology is, this book should be required reading for all graduate students.' Antiquity