Archaeology and its Discontents:Why Archaeology Matters
EXPLANATION AND UNDERSTANDINGWhat might an archaeologist expect to know and how might they expect to know it?The megaliths of western EuropeFrom explanation to understandingConclusionTHE ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORDThe possibility of archaeologyThe archaeological recordThe limits of uniformitarianismStyle and functionProcess and traditionConclusionSYSTEMS AND THE DYNAMICS OF HISTORICAL CHANGE The New ArchaeologyEstablishing a 'New Archaeology'The new methodologyThe historical conditionThe initial definition of the cultural systemHistorical explanations: from maladaptation to socially driven changeConclusionA SOCIAL ARCHAEOLOGYFrom an archaeology of adaptive systems to a Social ArchaeologySocial structuresSocial typologies, social practices, and world systemsThe problem with anthropological analogiesConclusionFROM FUNCTIONALISM TO A SYMBOLIC AND STRUCTURAL ARCHAEOLOGYDid anything change?The meanings of thingsFollowing a ruleThe question of human exceptionalismConclusionTHE EVOLUTION OF ECOSYSTEMSWhat is life? Systems of biological developmentWhy history is not a matter of Darwinian evolution but of biocultural developmentPost-DarwinismConclusionTHE MAKING OF POPULATIONSLiving with thingsConsciousnessLife as a constructConstructing populationsNeolithic populationsConclusionTHE CULTURES OF LIFEA cultural systemicsCultural historiesThe early Neolithic in EuropeConclusionEPILOGUEBIBLIOGRAPHY
