Archaeological Thinking

Charles E. Orser, Jr. taught a course on critical thinking skills in archaeology to hundreds of undergraduate students over many years. Over 30 years of archaeological excavation experience in the American Midwest and Southeast, Ireland, England, and Brazil has instilled in him the difficulties of archaeological interpretation and the need for critical thinking. A long-term interest in the outrageous claims of pseudo-archaeologists further impressed upon him the need for more instruction in logic and clear thinking. He is the author of one hundred professional articles and several books, including Historical Archaeology (now in its 3rd edition), A Historical Archaeology of the Modern World, The Archaeology of Race and Racialization in Historic America, Race and Practice in Archaeological Interpretation, Unearthing Hidden Ireland: Historical Archaeology at Ballykilcline, County Roscommon, A Primer on Modern-World Archaeology, Archaeological Thinking, and An Archaeology of the English Atlantic World, 1600-1700. He is the founder and editor of the International Journal of Historical Archaeology. In 2019, he received the Society for Historical Archaeology’s highest award, the J. C. Harrington Medal, for lifetime achievement in the discipline.