This is an introduction to all aspects of modern archaeology. The text explores: ideas in cognitive and postprocessual archaelogy; the archaeology of gender and the role of women archaeologists; new methods, such as GIS (Geographic Information Systems), optical dating and DNA research; and recent discoveries - the Alpine Iceman, the Palaeolithic painted caves of Cosquer and Chauvet in France, the mass grave of pre-modern humans at Atapuerca, Spain, and the pre-Columbian gold finds at Sipan, Peru. The book includes an in-depth case study on a key site in Southeast Asia.