Introduction: The sources of archaeological theory Norman Yoffee, and Andrew Sherratt; Part I. The Social Context of Archaeological Theory: 1. Limits to a post-processual archaeology (or The dangers of a new scholasticism) Philip L. Kohl; 2. A proliferation of new archaeologists 'Beyond objectivism and relativism' Alison Wylie; 3. Ambition, deference, discrepancy, consumption; the intellectual background to a post-processual archaeology Christopher Chippendale; Part II. Archaeological Theory from the Paleolithic to the State: 4. Ancestors and agendas Clive Gamble; 5. After social evolution: a new archaeological agenda? Stephen Shennan; 6. Too many chiefs? (or, Safe texts for the 90s) Norman Yoffee; Part III. Case-Studies in Archaeological Theory and Practice; 7. When is a symbol archaeologically meaningful? Meaning, function and prehistoric visual arts Kelley Hays; 8. Re-fitting the 'cracked and broken facade': the case for empiricism in post-processual ethnoarchaeology Miriam Start; 9. Communication and the importance of disciplinary communities: who owns the past? Tim Murray; Part IV. Postscript and Epilogue: 10. The relativity of theory Andrew Sherratt; 11. Archaeology: the loss of nerve Richard Bradley.