Why am I passionate about this?

Tim Murray has been a leading exponent of the history and philosophy of archaeology for the past thirty years. He has used the history of the discipline to explore the nature of archaeological theory and the many complex intersections between archaeology and society. Of his many publications flowing from this general project, the award-winning global scale five-volume Encyclopedia of Archaeology, the single volume global history of Archaeology Milestones in Archaeology. Murray is a global leader in applying studies in the history of archaeology to the reform of archaeological theory. This is evidenced by the publication of a collection of his essays, From Antiquarian to Archaeologist, and his numerous academic papers on the subject.


I wrote

From Antiquarian to Archaeologist: The History and Philosophy of Archaeology

By Tim Murray,

Book cover of From Antiquarian to Archaeologist: The History and Philosophy of Archaeology

What is my book about?

This volume forms a collection of papers tracking the emergence of the history of archaeology from a subject of marginal…

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of A History of Archaeological Thought

Tim Murray Why did I love this book?

In its original edition, Bruce Trigger's book was the first ever to examine the history of archaeological thought from medieval times to the present in worldwide perspective.

Now, in this new edition, he both updates the original work and introduces new archaeological perspectives and concerns. At once stimulating and even-handed, it places the development of archaeological thought and theory throughout within a broad social and intellectual framework.

The successive but interacting trends apparent in archaeological thought are defined and the author seeks to determine the extent to which these trends were a reflection of the personal and collective interests of archaeologists as these relate - in the West at least - to the fluctuating fortunes of the middle classes.

While subjective influences have been powerful, Professor Trigger argues that the gradual accumulation of archaeological data has exercised a growing constraint on interpretation.

In turn, this has increased the objectivity of archaeological research and enhanced its value for understanding the entire span of human history and the human condition in general.

This is the best general introduction to the history of archaeological thinking. Unlike other general texts, Trigger takes a global focus and pays proper attention to the forces which shaped archaeological thinking over the last 200 years. It has had a major impact on how archaeologists (and others) understand the discipline.

By Bruce G. Trigger,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked A History of Archaeological Thought as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In its original edition, Bruce Trigger's book was the first ever to examine the history of archaeological thought from medieval times to the present in world-wide perspective. Now, in this new edition, he both updates the original work and introduces new archaeological perspectives and concerns. At once stimulating and even-handed, it places the development of archaeological thought and theory throughout within a broad social and intellectual framework. The successive but interacting trends apparent in archaeological thought are defined and the author seeks to determine the extent to which these trends were a reflection of the personal and collective interests of…


Book cover of The Discovery of the Past

Tim Murray Why did I love this book?

The Discovery of the Past is an intellectual tour de force focused on explaining how the modern practice of archaeology came to be.

The book has a particular strength in charting the origins and growth of archaeology in Europe and the consequences of its application to the exploration of remote human history around the world.

By Alain Schnapp, Ian Kinnes (translator), Gillian Varndell (translator)

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Discovery of the Past as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Examines the development of archaeology as a science and the process by which humankind developed an understanding of its past


Book cover of Thinking from Things: Essays in the Philosophy of Archaeology

Tim Murray Why did I love this book?

Wylie’s philosophical journey over the past 22 years has mirrored (and in some senses helped to create) the landscape of contemporary archaeological philosophy.

Certainly Wylie’s commitment to developing an ethical and inclusive archaeology, where discussions of research agendas such as feminism should not be ruled out by the application of empiricism, has done a great deal to support the work of archaeologists also committed to those agendas. 

By Alison Wylie,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Thinking from Things as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this long-awaited compendium of new and newly revised essays, Alison Wylie explores how archaeologists know what they know. Examining the history and methodology of Anglo-American archaeology, Wylie puts the tumultuous debates of the last thirty years in historical and philosophical perspective.


Book cover of A History of American Archaeology

Tim Murray Why did I love this book?

The first (and still most influential) history of archaeology in the Americas.

Willey and Sabloff wrote at a time of great ferment in the theory and practice of archaeology where old certainties were beginning to give way to radically new ways of creating and understanding archaeological knowledge. This book was particularly influential in helping archaeologists find their ways through a new intellectual landscape.

By Gordon R. Willey, Jeremy A. Sabloff,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A History of American Archaeology as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Book by Willey, Gordon R., Sabloff, Jeremy A.


Book cover of From Genesis to Prehistory: The Archaeological Three Age System and its Contested Reception in Denmark, Britain, and Ireland

Tim Murray Why did I love this book?

It is a commonplace observation about the history of archaeology that the Three Age System, along with the discovery of high human antiquity, forms one of the two great defining ‘events’ of prehistoric archaeology in the nineteenth century.

Generations of students have been introduced to the discipline (and the nature of its distinctive contribution to the writing of human history) through re-telling of foundation stories about antiquity, and our capacity to order and measure it.

Rowley-Conwy’s excellent book significantly recasts the first of these great foundation narratives and teaches us much about the continuing importance of those narratives.

By Peter Rowley-Conwy,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked From Genesis to Prehistory as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

We are now familiar with the Three Age System, the archaeological partitioning of the past into Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age. This division, which amounted at the time to a major scientific revolution, was conceived in Denmark in the 1830s. Peter Rowley-Conwy investigates the reasons why the Three Age system was adopted without demur in Scandinavian archaeological circles, yet was the subject of a bitter and long-drawn-out contest in Britain and Ireland, up to
the 1870s.


Explore my book 😀

From Antiquarian to Archaeologist: The History and Philosophy of Archaeology

By Tim Murray,

Book cover of From Antiquarian to Archaeologist: The History and Philosophy of Archaeology

What is my book about?

This volume forms a collection of papers tracking the emergence of the history of archaeology from a subject of marginal status in the 1980s to the mainstream subject which it is today. Emeritus Professor Timothy Murray's essays have been widely cited and track over 30 years in the development of the subject. The papers are accompanied by a new introduction which surveys the development of the subject over the last 25 years as well as a reflection of what this means for the philosophy of archaeology and theoretical archaeology.

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By Sharman Apt Russell,

Book cover of What Walks This Way: Discovering the Wildlife Around Us Through Their Tracks and Signs

Sharman Apt Russell Author Of What Walks This Way: Discovering the Wildlife Around Us Through Their Tracks and Signs

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Interested in archaeology, philosophy, and prehistory?

Archaeology 129 books
Philosophy 1,751 books
Prehistory 46 books