Defines archaeology, examines how archaeologists work, surveys excavation methods, and visits archaeology sites--from Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania to the Garbage Project in America. Archaeologists are like detectives investigating the past. They look for clues and analyze their findings in order to unravel the complex story of the everyday lives of our ancestors.The Young Oxford Book of Archaeology begins by asking: What is archaeology? We find out how archaeologists work. How do they find a site? How do they excavate? How do they record and interpret what they find? We travel through time, stopping off at archaeological sites all over the world--on land, underground, and beneath the sea--from Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, where the first humans appeared, through Mohenjodaro in Pakistan, where one of the first great cities flourished, to the Viking sites in Canada. The story is brought up-to-date with the Garbage Project, where archaeologists have used people's trash to build up a picture of modern life.Illustrated with stunning photographs and reconstructions, each case study examines and interprets all the evidence. The result is the essential guide for the archaeologist in all of us.