Philosophy of archaeology

The philosophy of archaeology seeks to investigate the foundations, methods and implications of the discipline of archaeology in order to further understand the human past and present.

Core questions address the definition of archaeology, its theoretical foundations, and the ways in which the discipline conceptualizes time. They also examine the purposes of archaeology, including why it is conducted and for whose benefit, as well as the nature and reality of the materials and processes that constitute archaeological inquiry. Analytic philosophy of archaeology explores the conceptual structure underlying terms such as artefact, site, archaeological record, and archaeological culture. These issues represent part of the broader metaphysical, aesthetic, epistemological, ethical, and theoretical concerns central to archaeological practice.

In addition to these general questions, the philosophy of archaeology is also concerned with fieldwork methodology, integration of theory and collaboration with other disciplines, theories of measurement and data representation.

Philosophy of archaeology can also denote a certain approach or attitude applied to the discipline, such as feminist, Marxist, humanist or processual for example. These approaches are generally referred to as "theory" by archaeologists and are sometimes conflated with, but are not the same as, analytic philosophy of archaeology. See Archeological theory for a full description of these approaches.

There is currently little consensus amongst archaeologists on the nature of the problems in the philosophy of archaeology, or indeed in some cases, whether a philosophy of archaeology should, or even can, exist. As such, the discipline is not highly developed, with even its existence or relevance disputed by some archaeologists. However, it is generally recognised that an awareness of the philosophical issues and framework of the subject through research into the philosophy of archaeology is important for progress in the discipline as well as for designing research, controlling inference and interpretation, and in classification.