The Future of Archaeology

In recent decades an expanding cadre of archaeologists has embarked to the field and laboratories. Their endeavors have sparked the collection of troves of data about worldwide pasts at multiple scales from the molecular to the macroregional. Investigation has been amplified by new technologies including computers, satellite imagery, mass spectrometry, and sequencers for ancient DNA. As information-rich findings are rapidly being deciphered, it is clear that the temporal depth and global breadth of archaeological discoveries are sufficiently rich to inform us regarding key contemporary issues--sustainability, inequality, governance, well-being, and heritage. Ernest Hooten once described archaeologists as "the senile playboys of science rooting in the rubbish heaps of antiquity." Although Hooten's view of archaeology as an esoteric discipline remains intact in some quarters, clearly times have changed--and in this volume a diverse suite of archaeologists marshal their thoughts regarding the current state and future of the discipline.