The Cambridge Archaeological Journal is a peer-reviewed

Peer review

Peer review is a process of self-regulation by a profession or a process of evaluation involving qualified individuals within the relevant field. Peer review methods are employed to maintain standards, improve performance and provide credibility...

 academic journal

Academic journal

An academic journal is a peer-reviewed periodical in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as forums for the introduction and presentation for scrutiny of new research, and the critique of existing research...

 for cognitive

Cognitive archaeology

Cognitive archaeology is a sub-discipline of archaeology which focuses on the ways that ancient societies thought and the symbolic structures that can be perceived in past material culture....

 and symbolic archaeology

Archaeology

Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...

 published by Cambridge University Press

Cambridge University Press

Cambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...

 on behalf of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research

McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research

The McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research is a research institute of the University of Cambridge in England.-History:The Institute was established in 1990 through a generous benefaction from the late Dr D. M. McDonald, a well-known and successful industrialist...

. It was established in 1991 and is published triannually. It includes major articles, shorter notes, book reviews, and review articles, especially those related to cognitive archaeology.

The current editor-in-chief is John Robb, (University of Cambridge

University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...

), while from 1990-2005 the editor was Chris Scarre

Chris Scarre

Chris Scarre is a writer in the fields of archaeology and ancient history.He obtained his MA and PhD degrees from the University of Cambridge and is a professor in the Archaeology department at Durham University....

 (McDonald Institute).

Scope

The journal's focus is on the role and development of human intellectual abilities. It covers theoretical and descriptive archaeological research, ranging from art and iconography, burial and ritual, representations and symbolism, to the evolution of human cognition. The journal covers all eras and all areas, from the Lower Palaeolithic to Colonialism, and from the Pacific to Central Asia. Of note, figurine

Figurine

A figurine is a statuette that represents a human, deity or animal. Figurines may be realistic or iconic, depending on the skill and intention of the creator. The earliest were made of stone or clay...

 studies have been widely discussed in several surveys, but in particular in its 1996 feature "Can We Interpret Figurines?". The journal often publishes on Maya

Maya civilization

The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Initially established during the Pre-Classic period The Maya is a Mesoamerican...

archaeology.