The Oxford Handbook of Material Culture Studies introduces and reviews current thinking in the interdisciplinary field of material culture studies. Drawing together approaches from archaeology, anthropology, geography, and Science and Technology Studies, through twenty-eight specially commissioned essays by leading international researchers, the volume explores contemporary issues and debates in a series of themed sections - Disciplinary Perspectives, Material Practices, Objects and Humans, Landscapes and the Built Environment, and Studying Particular Things. From Coca-Cola, chimpanzees, artworks, and ceramics, to museums, cities, human bodies, and magical objects, the Handbook is an essential resource for anyone with an interest in materiality and the place of material objects in human social life, both past and present. A comprehensive bibliography enhances its usefulness as a research tool.
Dan Hicks is Lecturer & Curator in Archaeology, School of Archaeology & Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford.Mary C. Beaudry is Professor of Archaeology & Anthropology, Boston University.
I. DISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVES ; II. MATERIAL PRACTICES ; III. OBJECTS AND HUMANS ; IV. LANDSCAPES AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT ; V. STUDYING PARTICULAR THINGS
The extent and ambition of material-culture studies is marvellously revealed in this new handbook ... a wonderfully rich resource ... this really is an impressive collection.