Some Challenges in Contemporary Archaeology

More secure today in funding and administrative power than at any other time in the last 100 years, the archaeological establishment has lost the support of the public by its short-sightedness and obsessive approach to archaeological data collection. This is the message of one of the leading theoreticians of the post-processual school, given to the Institute of Field Archaeologists at the 1995 "Archaeology in Britain Conference". The author stresses the importance of interpreting the archaeological record with respect for the "otherness" of its creators. This pamphlet goes far to bridge the traditional gap between "dirt" archaeologists and their academic colleagues.