Jane McIntosh

{{short description|Scottish archaeologist and author}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

Jane R. McIntosh is a Scottish archaeologist and author.

McIntosh obtained a PhD from the University of Cambridge on contacts between the Indus Valley civilisation and Mesopotamia.{{Cite web|url=http://www.cic.ames.cam.ac.uk/pages/mcintosh.html|title=Jane McIntosh - The First Civilizations in Contact: Mesopotamia and the Indus|website=Civilizations in Contact|publisher=Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge|language=en|access-date=2017-08-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403235109/http://www.cic.ames.cam.ac.uk/pages/mcintosh.html|archive-date=2019-04-03|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.harappa.com/experts/jane-mcintosh|title=Jane McIntosh|website=Harappa.com|language=en|access-date=2017-08-11}} She then began writing popular books about archaeology. Her first book, The Practical Archaeologist (1986), has been described as a "key reference"{{Cite journal|last=Thompson|first=Ben W.|date=1988|title=Review of The Practical Archaeologist: How We Know What We Know About the Past|jstor=43143687|journal=Central States Archaeological Journal|volume=35|issue=4|pages=234}} and is recommended as an introduction to archaeology for beginners.{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NdIwaoME9IMC&pg=RA2-SA3-PA34|title=Intrigue of the Past: Discovering Archaeology in Arizona|last1=Agenbroad|first1=Larry|last2=Ezzo|first2=Joseph A.|date=1995|publisher=U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Heritage Education Program|isbn=|location=|pages=34|language=en|chapter=Appendix 3: Resources|display-authors=1}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q6hhCQAAQBAJ&pg=PT14|title=Archaeology: The Basics|last=Gamble|first=Clive|date=2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781317542759|edition=3rd|location=London|pages=14|language=en}} However, one reviewer of the revised edition (1999) felt that the lack of up-to-date information in some sections meant that it could not be "recommended as a reference source to the serious student of archaeology".{{Cite journal|last=Watson|first=Iain|date=2000|title=The Practical Archaeologist: How We Know What We Know about the Past|journal=Reference Reviews|volume=14|issue=2|pages=46|doi=10.1108/rr.2000.14.2.46.104|issn=0950-4125}} Her 2001 book on the Indus Valley Civilisation, A Peaceful Realm, was less well received. Jonathan Mark Kenoyer wrote that "as a story it is quite well written and engaging", but that as an academic reference it is "seriously flawed", with numerous errors, unclear references, and an overall interpretation that "reinforces stereotypes of the Indus that scholars have been trying to erase for the past fifty years".{{Cite journal|last=Kenoyer|first=Jonathan M.|date=2003|title=A Peaceful Realm: The Rise and Fall of the Indus Civilization (review)|journal=Asian Perspectives|volume=42|issue=2|pages=376–380|doi=10.1353/asi.2003.0040|s2cid=163001070|issn=1535-8283}}