The Ethics of Archaeology: Philosophical Perspectives on Archaeological Practice

Description

Archaeologists are becoming increasingly conscious of their ethical responsibilities in the discovery, interpretation and custodianship of the archaeological record. In this important new collection, leading international archaeologists and philosophers come together to discuss the significant ethical issues raised by the contemporary practice of archaeology. Addressing topics such as archaeologists' relations with indigenous peoples, the role of ethical codes, looting and the trade in antiquities, repatriation, and archaeologists' treatment of the dead, this book is an ideal introduction to the ethics of archaeology for students, scholars and professionals alike.

Chris Scarre is Professor of Archaeology at the University of Durham. His previous publications include Monuments and Landscape in Atlantic Europe (ed.) (2002) and The Human Past: A Textbook of World Prehistory (ed.) (2005). Geoffrey Scarre is Reader at the Department of Philosophy at the University of Durham. He is the author of After Evil: Responses to Wrongdoing (2004) and the editor of Moral Philosophy and the Holocaust (2003).

'... a provocative, thoughtful and entirely engaging read. The key to its success is that each chapter, variously written by ten archaeologists, seven philosophers and four anthropologists ... relates its arguments to real, mostly contemporary situations and events, many familiar. This is both a stimulating read and, in its separate parts, a thinking handbook.' British Archaeology