Anthropology & Archaeology

1. Keyword searching in Anthropology Plus (listed on the Articles page of this guide) and LibrarySearch is a good way to start. Some archaeological sites have very unique names, and a simple keyword search will find relevant information.
    
2. Subject Heading searches will help you focus your search on the correct site, and avoid other things with the same name. The "Advanced Search" option in the library catalog has a drop-down menu option to search by "Subject" -- it's very useful to use!  ("Subject" is what the catalog calls "tags.")
   
   When you find a useful book in the Library Catalog, look at the book's information to find subject headings. If you click on one of these, you will get a new set of search results of everything tagged with this specific term.

• For instance: Extinct cities - North America.
• or: Xochicalco site (Mexico)
• or: Human remains (archaeology)

• Always look at the subject headings (tags) in successful results to further your search.
• You usually will need to try searching by multiple subject headings to find all the information on your topic

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Sites

Archaeological sites are established individually as subject headings. The name of the site is the subject heading.

Sites are typically listed as "[Name] Site ([place])." Some places, such as states, are abbreviated. If you are unsure of the abbreviation, do a keyword search for the geographic location and check the subject headings that come up to find the appropriate abbreviation.

Some examples of site names are:

• Hoko River Site
• Hoko River archaeological site (Wash.)
• Fengate Site
• Yaquina Head Site (Or.)

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Variations on "Sites"

Some sites are called cave, tel, ruin, mound, etc. instead of "site." Some examples are:

• Franchthi Cave (Greece)
• Akhziv, Tel (Israel)

And some other sites are refered to as  "Extinct cities" to help distinguish them from modern cities with the same name:

• Pompeii (extinct city)
• Ebla (extinct city)

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Concepts & Issues

If you are researching broad archaeological concepts or issues (instead of a specific site), you can include an additional line of keywords (not just subject headings) in your search that will help tailor your list of results:

• Pompeii (Extinct city) AND Politics and government - note in the search results, how these are entered in separate search boxes.
• Social archaeology Greece
• Archaeology Political aspects Middle East
• Human remains (Archaeology) Moral and ethical aspects United States
• Cultural property Protection International cooperation

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Geographic Areas & People

If you do not know the name of a particular site or are interested in the archaeology of a geographic area, you can use broader term subject headings to do your search:

• Oregon Antiquities
• Washington (State) Antiquities
• Peru Antiquities
• Prehistoric peoples Ireland
• Prehistoric peoples United States

You may also search for a particular group or culture such as:

• Incas

Or for more specific people & finds:

• Kennewick Man
• Lucy (Prehistoric hominid)

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Types of Archaeology

"Excavations (Archaeology) -- [place]" works for finding actual digs:

• Excavations (Archaeology)
• Excavations (Archaeology) Africa, West
• Excavations (Archaeology) Caribbean Area

Or, use the term "Archaeology" when looking for material about archaeology as a branch of learning:

• Archaeology methodology
• Coastal archaeology Northwest Coast of North America
• Urban archaeology

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Material Types

You can search by material or building type:

• Plant remains (Archaeology)
• Human remains (Archaeology)
• Earthworks (archaeology)

And you can do this within a specific geographic area as well:

• Plant remains (Archaeology) Latin America
• Tools, Prehistoric North America