In recent years there has been a lamentable tendency on the part of academic archaeologists to professionalize their field, with a consequently growing distinction between “amateurs” and “professionals.” That this distinction is a false one has been demonstrated by the work of such “amateurs” as Lemley of Arkansas, Langford of Illinois, and many others. The boundary between these two classes of excavators has been one of attachment or non-attachment to an academic institution, without regard to the real issue: techniques. This distinction is happily undergoing process of change, as the very existence of American Antiquity bears witness. Founded as an outlet for both amateur and professional work, it has done much to allay hostilities and opposition on both sides.
Michael J. Allen, ed. Molluscs in Archaeology: Methods, Approaches and Applications (Studying Scientific Archaeology 3. Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2017, 448pp., 107 illustr., 36 in colour, hbk, ISBN: 978-1-785-70608-0)