Nunamiut Ethnoarchaeology

Book excerpt: In Nunamiut Ethnoarchaeology, the late Lewis Binford documents the hunting and butchering strategies of modern Arctic big game hunters and the archaeological remains generated during the course of their yearly round of activities-producing a unique description of a complete annual cycle of subsistence activities, viewed simultaneously from both a behavioral and archaeological perspective. The volume is now regarded as a classic of archaeological theory building. As Nicole Waguespack writes in her new prologue, "Binford documents Nunamiut hunting and butchering strategies and their impact on faunal assemblage variation. In classic Binfordian fashion, however, the book is also about much more and can serve as an essential sourcebook on both ethnoarchaeology and zooarchaeology." Originally published by Academic Press in 1978. Praise from readers "Binford's classic work is archaeology's Moby Dick-raw in the ethnographic details of butchering nature for human purposes and rich in the knowledge so gained for the study of the human past. Nunamiut Ethnoarchaeology put complexity back into hunting and archaeologists have been feasting off the fat ever since." Clive Gamble, University of Southampton "Decades after its initial publication, Nunamuit Ethnoarchaeology remains a defining moment in archaeological method and theory. Binford's pioneering tour de force continues to inspire archaeologists and stands as a basic sourcebook for anyone interested in hunter-gatherer studies. This book is one of the reasons why I do what I do." Karen Lupo, Washington State University "Nunamiut Ethnoarchaeology will always stand as one of the most important and innovative books in taphonomy, ethnoarchaeology, and hunter-gatherer ethnography. A brilliant treatise on hunter-gatherer foraging and a model for the rest of the field to follow on how to use the present to learn about the past." Curtis W. Marean, Arizona State University