In its original edition Bruce Triggers book was the first ever to examine thehistory of archaeological thought from medieval times to the present in worldwide p... » 

In its original edition Bruce Triggers book was the first ever to examine thehistory of archaeological thought from medieval times to the present in worldwide perspective. Now in this new edition he both updates the original workand introduces new archaeological perspectives and concerns. At oncestimulating and evenhanded it places the development of archaeologicalthought and theory throughout within a broad social and intellectual framework.The successive but interacting trends apparent in archaeological thought aredefined and the author seeks to determine the extent to which these trends werea reflection of the personal and collective interests of archaeologists asthese relate in the West at least to the fluctuating fortunes of the middleclasses. While subjective influences have been powerful Professor Triggerargues that the gradual accumulation of archaeological data has exercised agrowing constraint on interpretation. In turn this has increased theobjectivity of archaeological research and enhanced its value for understandingthe entire span of human history and the human condition in general. «