CapU Research: Archeology instructor Bob Muckle co-authors new Introducing Archeology textbook
Bringing new perspectives and a fresh approach
Department of Anthropology instructor Robert (Bob) Muckle is the lead author of the recently published textbook Introducing Archaeology (3rd edition, University of Toronto Press, 2021) with co-author Stacey L. Camp, associate professor in the Department of Anthropology at Michigan State University.
This new edition builds on his earlier editions of the textbook by bringing new perspectives and a fresh approach through the addition of co-author Stacey Camp.
“Stacey has a much different background than me and is quite familiar with some of the emergent subfields and interests in archaeology today,” said Muckle.
The book includes significant additions in the areas of feminism in archaeology, the decolonization of archaeology, public archaeology, archaeology and climate change, and archaeology of the contemporary world.
Muckle’s research interest in the archeology of Japanese sites in North America is shared by Camp.
The textbook includes photos from Muckle’s well-documented work in the Seymour Valley where he and teams of CapU students have unearthed the remains of a remote Japanese camp buried in the forest, and photos of CapU students participating in a campus waste audit.
Muckle will be using the new edition of his textbook when he next teaches at CapU in summer 2021.
“I am currently working with two CapU research students on a project studying ‘Archaeology of COVID-19’,” said Muckle. “This project, funded through the University’s Office of Creative Activity, Research and Scholarship, is documenting COVID-related art, structures, and artifacts.”
In addition to research, Muckle is currently writing with numerous articles and books under way. Though the Lens of Anthropology: An Introduction to Human Evolution and Culture by Muckle, Gonzalez and Camp will be released later in 2021. Archaeology and Popular Culture and Through the Lens of Archaeology: The Human Past from Three Million Years Ago to Yesterday are targeted for publication in 2022.
His local archeology work with CapU students in the Seymour Valley will be detailed in The Seymour Valley Archaeology Project, which will be published later this year. Plus, he is co-authoring Archeology in British Columbia with CapU Anthropology department colleague Karen Thomas, who is both an archaeologist and member of the Tsleil Waututh Nation.
Submitted by: Linda Munro, Communications