Uni Reading List
Index / 001 EN
In the Beginning: An Introduction to Archaeology cover

Anthropology

Anthropology

In the Beginning: An Introduction to Archaeology

Nadia Durrani; Brian M. Fagan

A long-established introductory textbook by Nadia Durrani and Brian M. Fagan that explains the basic methods and theoretical approaches of archaeology from a global perspective. Written with little technical jargon, it shows how archaeologists find, date and interpret the material remains of the past, using case studies from many regions and periods.

Prerequisites: No prior study of archaeology or anthropology is required.

Difficulty Level
Beginner
Academic Level
Undergraduate
archaeologyarchaeological methodsdatingexcavationcultural resource managementTextbook

01 / Reading Guide

Reading Guide

Citation

Durrani, N., & Fagan, B. M. (2025). In the Beginning: An Introduction to Archaeology (15th ed.). Routledge.

Chapter Summary

The fifteenth edition has twenty chapters in seven parts, preceded by a preface and a short chronology titled "What Happened When and Where: A Brief Journey Through Ancient Times", and followed by a glossary, a bibliography and an index. Routledge lists 494 pages and 268 colour illustrations, and describes the text as having numerous boxes and sidebars with examples from around the globe. The parts follow the order of archaeological work: background, basic concepts, recovery, analysis, interpretation, management of the past and careers.

Part I, Background to Archaeology (Chapters 1–3): Introducing Archaeology; The Beginnings of Scientific Archaeology; The Many-Voiced Past

The publisher describes the opening as a broad introduction to the field followed by a survey of the highlights of archaeology's history. The title of Chapter 3 points to multiple voices and perspectives on the past, and diversity and ethics are among the topics the publisher lists as new or expanded in this edition.

Part II, The Basics (Chapters 4–7): Matrix and Preservation; Doing Archaeological Research; Culture, Data, and Context; Dating the Past

This part sets out the groundwork named in the publisher's summary: preservation, the context of archaeological finds, and the ways the past is dated. The edition adds new material on preserving the archaeological record.

Part III, Recovering the Data (Chapters 8–9): They Sought It Here, They Sought It There; Excavation

Field survey and excavation. According to the publisher, the survey coverage includes the latest remote-sensing methods.

Part IV, Analyzing the Past (Chapters 10–11): Classifying Artifacts; Technologies of the Ancients

The move from recovered material to analysis, with a chapter on classifying artifacts and one on ancient technologies.

Part V, Studying Environments and People (Chapters 12–17): Ancient Environments; Studying Subsistence; The Living Past; Landscape and Settlement; Interactions; Archaeology and the Intangible

The longest part turns from objects to the people who made them. The publisher's description groups these chapters under ancient environments, landscapes and settlement patterns, and the people of the past. The titles cover subsistence, interactions and the intangible.

Part VI, Managing the Past (Chapters 18–19): Cultural Resource Management (CRM) and Public Archaeology; Archaeology and Contemporary Society

The two chapters the publisher calls heavily updated in this edition: cultural resource management, public archaeology and the role of archaeology in society.

Part VII, Careers and Resources (Chapter 20): So You Want to Become an Archaeologist?

A closing chapter on archaeology as a potential career.

Key Concepts

Parts I–II (Chapters 1–7)

  • Archaeological context and matrix: the setting in which finds occur, central to the titles of Chapters 4 and 6.
  • Preservation: what survives in the archaeological record and why, the subject of Chapter 4 and of new material in this edition.
  • Dating: the methods for fixing finds in time, given a chapter of their own (Chapter 7).

Parts III–IV (Chapters 8–11)

  • Survey and excavation: the two main ways of recovering data, with remote sensing part of the survey coverage.
  • Artifact classification: sorting recovered objects, the first step of the analysis part.

Parts V–VII (Chapters 12–20)

  • Subsistence, landscape and settlement: how past people fed themselves and used and organised space, as the titles of Chapters 13 and 15 show.
  • Cultural resource management and public archaeology: archaeology as a profession and a public activity, given heavy updating in this edition.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

  • A clear working sequence. The seven parts move from what archaeology is, through finding and dating evidence, to analysing it, reconstructing environments and societies, and then managing the heritage that results. A student can see where each topic sits in a project.
  • Written for newcomers and with a global range. The publisher stresses clear, engaging writing with minimal technical jargon and a global perspective, and the volume is richly illustrated, with boxes and sidebars.
  • Up-to-date practice. The fifteenth edition adds new case studies and updated material on archaeological science, multidisciplinary research, ethics, diversity, underwater archaeology and the preservation of the archaeological record, with heavily updated chapters on CRM and public archaeology.
  • Attention to careers and the public. A whole part is given to managing the past and a chapter to becoming an archaeologist, which suits readers considering heritage or professional work.
  • Long-established. Fifteen editions show sustained use as a teaching text; Nadia Durrani joined as co-author from the thirteenth edition.

Limitations

  • Size. At roughly 494 pages in twenty chapters it is more than a short course can use; most courses will choose among Parts V–VII.
  • Little room for sustained theory. The table of contents has no chapter named for archaeological theory, so debates between schools of thought are unlikely to receive the depth that a dedicated theory text gives.
  • World prehistory in outline. The tour of ancient times is a brief opening chronology, so students taking a regional or period course will need other books for the culture history.

Where It Fits in the Course

Durrani and Fagan is a methods-centred first book. It overlaps most with Colin Renfrew and Paul Bahn's Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice, also a broad introduction combining approaches and practice; a course may reasonably choose one of the two as its main text. Paul Bahn's Archaeology: A Very Short Introduction is a briefer orientation for readers who want an overview before committing to a full textbook.

After the survey, Matthew Johnson's Archaeological Theory: An Introduction takes up the history and debates of interpretation at length, which is the main gap here. Bruce Trigger's A History of Archaeological Thought and Ian Hodder and Scott Hutson's Reading the Past are for readers going on to the intellectual history and interpretive argument.

How to Use This Book

The book is for students beginning archaeology, anthropology or ancient history, and for heritage and museum students who need to know how archaeological knowledge is produced. No prior study is needed.

A practical plan:

  • Core: Parts I and II (Chapters 1–7) give the vocabulary of the discipline: how it developed, how finds are preserved and put in context, and how they are dated.
  • Fieldwork and analysis: Chapters 8–11, best read alongside any excavation report or practical component.
  • Choose by course: Part V (Chapters 12–17) according to the topic of the class, and Part VI (Chapters 18–19) for courses in heritage, CRM or public engagement. Chapter 20 is worth reading early if the aim is a career.
  • Use the apparatus: the chronology in the preface supplies a framework for world prehistory, and the boxes and sidebars give short case studies to compare with your own course reading.