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intonewrealms's review against another edition
4.0
Pretty engaging throughout, I especially loved the parts about how different cultures and languages cannot be viewed from our own perspective and we can’t truly ever hope to put ourselves in their perspective.
gardant's review
5.0
One of the few works in critical theory that I read cover to cover by choice. The text goes through various schools of archaeological thought (Marxist, cultural-historical, structuralist, etc.), revealing their respective strengths and critiquing holes in their epistemologies. Some of the major themes that run through each chapter include the agency of individuals, materialism vs. idealism, and the inevitability of interpretation. While the writing could stand to be a bit punchier, Hodder mounts his critiques quite clearly, and makes a formidable argument for post-processualism. I've read a few other anthologies that try simplifying these same topics to make them more digestible for undergrads, but this book manages to be far more understandable without being condescending; compared to authors like Spivak or Bourdieu, this is a fairly accessible theoretical work.
ellanarose's review
4.0
There are parts of this which I think are grasping at straws a little, but overall an interesting book
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