ABSTRACT
T h e preceding chapters have attempted to introduce some ideas and models which m ight be advantageously integrated in the discipline of analytical archaeology. T h e annual output of archaeological data and the advent of techniques with novel and fundam ental incisive powers make it quite apparent that archaeological interpretation is entering new, exciting and difficult dim ensions. It is equally apparent that the use of these new techniques demands a more coherent and rigorous fram ework of general conceptual scaffolding than that which the archaeologist has hitherto bothered to erect. T h is contem porary situ ation healthily forces the archaeologist’s attention to focus on the neglected general theory that underlies his discipline and its pro cedures. It is time for archaeology to move from the status of an intuitively acquired craft towards that of an explicit discipline.
