Science, theory and archaeology in Britain: a minimalist view of the debate

Publicación: Archaeologia Polona, ISBN 0066-5924, Nº 39, 2001, pags. 17-36

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Resumen:

Reviewa of archaeological theory are usually written by full-time theoreticians, who regard theoretical issues as central to change in the discipline. This contribution in contrast argues that some of the major theoretical changes in British archaeology, particulary those associated with the rise of New Archaeology in the 1960s, arose directly from new developments in the archaeological record, particularly the demolition by radiocarbon dating of precious explanations of culture change; and the arrivals of New and Post-Processual Archaeology are changes more of nomenclature than in theory. The concepts of culture, system and context are closer together than is usually recognised. One major difference involves the post-processual view of "facts", which differs from that of Cultural or New Archaeology.