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Fifty Years of Theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Albert C. Spaulding*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106

Extract

The fiftieth anniversaries of the Society for American Archaeology and of its journal are plainly occasions for stock-takings of various kinds. My assignment is to comment on the progress of the theory underlying archaeological activities during this time with particular attention to the situation at the outset. My principal qualification for this task is the simple fact that my period of participation in American archaeology coincides closely with this fifty-year span. I began graduate study at the University of Michigan in the autumn of 1936 and immediately developed a specialized interest in eastern and northern North America. Subsequent discussion reflects this interest; my basic concern is to describe and appraise the intellectual groundwork of archaeology as it was practiced by archaeologists working in this field.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1985

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References

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