How should we view the archaeological past? How can we come to understand it and what procedures are suitable for constructing archaeological knowledge? What is the goal of archaeology? "Reconstructing Archaeology" tackles these issues with wit and vigor, challenging the disciplinary practices of both traditional and "new" archaeology and presenting a radical alternative--a critically self-conscious archaeology and a social archaeology that appreciates artifacts not merely as objects of analysis but as part of a social world of past and present that is charged with meaning.
"Reconstructing Archaeology" ranges widely across social and philosophical literature, from philosophy of science to hermeneutics, structuralism to poststructuralism and Marxism. Its concerns, however, are not simply theoretical. Rather, the authors attempt to bridge the rift between theoretical argument and practical research, be it excavation, artifact analysis or the relationship between professional archaeologists and the public.
When "Reconstructing Archaeology" was first published, it provoked a storm of controversy on both sides of the Atlantic. This second edition provides an updated preface and appendix, in which Michael Shanks and Christopher Tilley further develop their arguments, responding to their most vocal critics.