Twenty-four academics and researchers, the majority from Australia, contribute 18 chapters honoring the pivotal role played by Harry Lourandos in the establishment of a social archaeology in Australia. The text explores social archaeologies and the varied ways of understanding the history of Indigenous Australians through archaeological practice. It challenges traditional approaches which have represented Indigenous Australian pasts as static and tethered to ecological rationalism, revealing instead the ancient past of Indigenous Australians to be one of long-term changes in social relationships and traditions, as well as the active management and manipulation of the environment. Distributed in the U.S. by ISBS. Annotation 2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
