Defining the Agenda

The ‘facts’ of history do not speak for themselves. The dataset is determined by what questions we ask, which change according to generational fashion. Its value is also determined by the standards of recovery and recording. These have changed with improvements in technology, but also as a consequence with a quantum shift brought about by commercial development on a large scale, and the expansion of popular interest. British archaeology traditionally was dominated by the historical model, in contrast to North America where archeology was an extension of social anthropology. Fashions in archaeological interpretation reflect contemporary social and intellectual fashions, but different branches of archaeology may not follow the same trends. Archaeology with its role in national heritage internationally has also been used for purposes of political propaganda.

Archaeology · Cartography · Extension (predicate logic) · Geography · Interpretation (philosophy) · Linguistics · Political science · Politics · Scale (ratio) · Sociology · Value (mathematics) · Anthropology · Australian History and Society · Historical and Cultural Archaeology Studies · History · Law · Philosophy · Philosophy, History, and Historiography