"Can There Be a Philosophy of Archaeology? provides a historical and philosophical analysis of the rise and fall of the philosophical movement known as logical positivism, focusing on the effect of that movement on the budding science of archaeology. Significant problems resulted from the grafting of logical positivism onto what became known as processual archaeology or new archaeology. As a result of this failure, archaeologists distanced themselves from philosophers of science, believing that archaeology would be best served by a return to the dirt.

By means of a thorough analysis of the real reasons for failures of logical empiricism and the new archaeology, as well as a series of archaeological case studies, William Harvey Krieger shows the need for the resumption of dialogue and collaboration between the two groups. In an age where philosophers of science are just beginning to look beyond the standard examples of scientific practice, this book demonstrates that archaeological science can hold its own with other sciences. This work will be of interest to archaeologists and philosophers of science alike."--BOOK JACKET.