Focused on four overarching elements of the post-Columbian world (colonialism, Eurocentrism, racialization and capitalism), A Primer on Modern-World Archaeology is designed to introduce this new kind of historical archaeology to undergraduates, graduate students, and everyone interested in the material expressions of how the present world came to be. Major perspectives are presented in accessible language and study questions are provided at the end of each chapter.

Despite its slow development, historical archaeology has been steadily maturing over the past three decades. Archaeologists today are exploring daily life in the post-1500 world at an increasing pace, investigating sites throughout the world—frequently locales where historical archaeology was never before practised—using a variety of complex theories and perspectives. Given the explosion of worldwide research, it is now possible to create a new historical archaeology: a modern-world archaeology that explicitly explores modern life in all its variations, extending from local to global scales of analysis.