Archaeologies of the heart extends recent theorising in archaeology around emotion, affectual experiences and the relational power of place (e.g. Balme & O'Connor Reference Balme and O'Connor2015; Díaz-Andreu & Benito Reference Díaz- Andreu and Benito2015; Lydon Reference Lydon2019). Edited by Kisha Supernant, Jane Eva Baxter, Natasha Lyons and Sonya Atalay, this book is a timely reminder to the archaeological community to question our ‘why?’ and reassess our ‘how?’, in the ways that we approach method and theory. The chapters in this book illustrate a heart-centred archaeology as a method through which, rather than being suppressed for their feminine association, empathy, emotion and love are employed in archaeology to provide healing to landscapes and communities. Woven throughout this book is the powerful metaphor of the life cycle of the wild strawberry, or ‘heart berry’. Valued for its healing properties, the growth of the heart berry from seed to fruition serves as a visceral metaphor for the development of the heart-centred framework outlined by Supernant et al. Archaeologies of the heart presents the reader with the healing potential of an archaeology acknowledging and benefitting from emotion, connection and love as part of academic rigour, not in spite of it.

Archaeologies of the heart is divided into three parts containing contributions from a diverse range of individuals and locations. Part I, entitled ‘Heart-centered guidance for practice and engagement’, draws on the experiences of contributors such as Chelsey Geralda Armstrong and Eugene N. Anderson who suggest a heart-centred archaeology that considers the ecological significance of a landscape in terms of supporting Indigenous resource management and cultural connections to land. They argue that ecological significance is integral to understanding the material culture present within a landscape and that this approach produces more sustainable heritage-management practices (Chapter 3). Although discussed within a North American context, this contribution is keenly relevant to the modern landscape of community archaeology and heritage management globally.

Part II, ‘Heart-centered encounters with the archaeological record’, explores both the archaeologists’ emotional response to the material record and the impacts these emotional connections to objects have on our interpretation of the past. Part II includes contributions from research projects focused on material culture across time and space. Melanie L. Chang and April Nowell consider the effects of continuing to employ an ‘us’ and ‘them’ mentality in studies of Neanderthals and our evolutionary past, on both the scientific community and on our desire as individuals to feel ‘special’ or ‘unique’ (Chapter 13). Conversely, in collaboration with undergraduate students, Anthony P. Graesch, Corbin Maynard and Avery Thomas conducted surveys of urban illegal discard sites. Graesch et al. highlight that students could more easily connect with a material record that was closely related to their own lives and experiences. They suggest that this empathetic connection to material culture and the practice of archaeology provides students with a greater ability to identify potential biases that may affect their research and its value to stakeholders (Chapter 10).

Part III, the final instalment in this volume, begins with a contribution by Ruth Tringham who writes on her experience practising slow archaeology at Çatalhöyük, in addition to an evocative illustration of the ways in which the lives of Çatalhöyük's Neolithic inhabitants can be excavated along with their material remains (Chapter 15). Finally, Sonya Atalay reflects on both the conceptual origins of Archaeologies of the heart and the importance of Anishinaabe teachings and ways of knowing in inspiring a heart-centred archaeological framework. Atalay's closing essay highlights the true value of this book; each contribution included within illustrates an emotional connection, to a community, a person, an object, a site or a landscape. These essays provide heartfelt experiences and connections to the material record, and those who create it, inspiring the reader to reflect on their own experiences within archaeology and to move forward in our practice with patience, humility and, most importantly, compassion (Chapter 16).

The epilogue, by Margaret Conkey, reflects on an archaeology of the heart and prompts us to question what archaeology sacrifices when it pushes only to be objective. Conkey enjoins us to enact a heart-centred archaeology as a specific method and to move towards a future where feminist and Indigenous archaeologies are not an elective concern, but a core element of all archaeological practice.

Archaeologies of the heart encourages the reader to sit with the uncomfortable truths of Western archaeology's colonial and patriarchal foundation. Supernant, Baxter, Lyons and Atalay have created an effective conversation-starter for a heart-centred archaeological practice that integrates feminist theory and Indigenous knowledge and methods into an archaeology that is unafraid of emotion and relationship-building. Archaeologies of the heart offers a welcome glimpse into the conversations within archaeology around feminism and Indigeneity, and provides the individual archaeologist with the inspiration and tools to sow the seeds of their own heart-centred practice.