Some Issues in the Philosophy of Archaeology

Abstract

This paper identifies a domain of inquiry that lies at the interface between archaeology and the philosophy of science. I argue that in the recent past archaeology has contributed little to the philosophy of science. This situation can change if archaeologists succeed in calling those issues or controversies that have genuine philosophical import to the attention of philosophers. This paper provisionally explores two such areas: first, the use of ecological principles to explain human behavior; and second, problems of confirmation in ethnoarchaeology.