ABSTRACT
In Spain, as in other West European countries, archaeological theory and methodology have undergone important and at times very rapid changes since 1960. The first congress of Spanish Anthropologists, held in Seville in January 1973, Jose Alcina Franch presented a paper in which he analysed the current situation of Spanish archaeology and its development during the previous decades. The theoretical and methodological foundations of the discipline were discussed, with the aim of developing an epistemological framework in which a more scientific and socially relevant archaeology could be undertaken. An increasing number of research programmes are now working with explicit hypotheses on the environment, economy and society, as well as with social theories of historical change. Spanish archaeological debate was organised in Barcelona in December 1986, 'Theoretical tendencies in archaeology', is the most important event so far, as it was the first time that epistomological issues were discussed in monograph form.
