Archaeology is Rubbish

Cast as the story of an imaginary dig in a suburban garden that expands to include the site of what is to be a new "Tesbury's" supermarket, Archaeology Is Rubbish takes readers through all the processes involved in a modern excavation and gives answers to some of the questions most frequently asked of archaeologists.

The fictional exploits of Indiana Jones and the lives of 19th century adventurers like Heinrich Schliemann, the man who dug up Troy and Mycenae, may give the impression that the archaeologist's life is one of glamour and excitement in faraway places. Tony Robinson and Mick Aston themselves, dashing hither and yon in a race against time in the Time Team TV series, may add to the sense that archaeology is one moment of high drama followed by another. In fact, as they know, and their book proclaims, archaeology is largely rubbish.

The material on which archaeologists work is usually the waste discarded by generation after generation, from Stone Age tool-makers and Roman housewives to Tudor carpenters and Victorian factory workers. This rubbish has its own stories to tell and Robinson and Aston's book is an engaging account of how archaeologists unearth those stories. The authors manage to cover a lot of territory in a 200-page book--from the dating of finds and the use of geophysics to Anglo-Saxon jewellery and Roman mosaics--and they do so in a way that proves archaeology can not only be rubbish but also a lot of fun. --Nick Rennison

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great for the novice - Rated
if you know little or nothing about archaeology then this is the book for you.Very clearly explained, this book assumes the reader knows nothing about archaeology. highly recomended.

Against my will, I agree: this book is rubbish - Rated
As an ardent fan of Time Team - I love them all - I was so disappointed by this, the first TT book I ever read. I am so glad I didn't stop there; the others are all great. The trouble with this one is it dumbs down the deliciously fascinating subject of local history/archaeology into something tacky and so commonplace it is embarrassing! Please, if you are interested in the subject , or a fan of Phil's hat/knees or chirpy little Tony, go for another book.

Fired my imagination - Rated
This book first attracted me because of the obvious connection with time team as I had enjoyed the programme for many years. I was about to apply to read for a degree in archaeology and wanted to know more about the actual work done rather than the theoretical approaches covered in most textbooks. To this end the book achieved it's purpose admirably and had a useful list of organisations, websites and a reasonably good further reading list. All in all, very helpful.

Archaeology Is Rubbish is rubbish! - Rated
Utter twaddle. Time Team started out as a reasonably entertaining TV series, but has since degenerated into a tedious vehicle for the presenters. This book continues Time Teams's fall from grace. It does not accurately represent modern field archaeology in any way what so ever, and covers all aspects of our past in a superficial, dumbed down way.
What's more, the title of the book has clearly been copied from an older article on the internet about castles.
I can't recommend this book in the slightest. If you want to find out about REAL archaeology, work as a volunteer on a site, and buy Renfrew & Bahn's book instead.

What lurks under your lawn? - Rated
If you are viewers of the Channel 4 docu-series 'Time Team' you will recognise the authors as two gentlemen usually up to their knees in mud pulling out of various holes, random pieces of pottery or bone, in this book they show us more of the same, but some detailed interesting information of the history of archaeology and an understanding as to why they are so passionate about it.

In this book, we begin with a trench being dug on a lawn that will look like ones we pass every day without a second thought to what stood there hundreds of years ago. Then out of this hole in the ground, tiny pieces of pottery emerge, that they recognise immediately as being Roman. By the time we get to the last chapter, we are rummaging around in the lives of people who lived in a Roman villa that they have unearthed, and the way it is explained and put across you begin to share their excitement of these broken pieces of history that they find.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and as a Time Team viewer I guess I had been bitten by the archaeology bug before, if you have too, this is a must read, if not, this will be a good introduction into what is under the earth we tread on daily and the lives of the people who were a part of our history.