ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses the development of archaeological thought in the new millennium – what many archaeologists might consider later post-processual thought up to the present. It explores notions of practice and agency in archaeology. A key move of the 1980s and 1990s was the realisation that archaeologists needed to think both about people's actions and how they related to the world around them. The book also explores a more recent approach to the study of meaning and symbolism in archaeology that takes direct influence from the writings of philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce. It engages in post-human approaches in its exploration of symmetrical archaeologies and new materialism. The book considers the wider ramifications of the arguments explored throughout. These encompass challenges to the traditional history of archaeological theory along with wide-ranging consequences for the discipline of archaeology.
