ABSTRACT
Archaeology has always been concerned both with telling the story of the past and telling stories about the past. Archaeologists and archaeology are a strange mixture of scientist and science and storyteller and narrative reconstruction. As practitioners we try to draw a coherent picture that encompasses both human meanings and general processes. This is a difficult enough task in today’s world where one may interview agents, hear stories first hand, and directly measure the impacts of actions. It is far more difficult for archaeologists who try to derive these same stories and processes from the fragmentary detritus of material remains that have survived the vicissitudes of time.
