ABSTRACT
It is hardly a novel insight that archaeologists disagree with each other about matters of theory and methodology. What marks out the last three decades in Anglo-American archaeology is the antagonistic nature of debate, and the time and space it has taken up in conferences and publications. Much of this debate has been welcome and essential to the growth of our discipline. Even those who do not regard themselves as ‘theoretical archaeologists’ recognize the role that theory has to play in structuring our thoughts and practice, as well as in defining data relevant to the problems that we study.
