ABSTRACT
This chapter explores theories of practice and agency. It provides useful ways of examining archaeological collections like the one dug up at the field school; they challenge the functionalist and structuralist approaches of cultural reproduction between thoughts and things. The chapter also provides some basic definitions and highlights the key contributions of theories of practice and agency: their relational perspectives that began to challenge the dualisms. It discusses the respective works of Pierre Bourdieu and Anthony Giddens, two of the most influential practice and agency theorists from outside the discipline. The chapter examines more closely the archaeological implications of these theories and highlights major themes and debates that arose as part of the practice and agency turn in archaeological theory. Theories of practice and agency offer new means of understanding the dynamism of culture and human agency.
