Quotations from Archaeologists
Hunt and Lipo on the Rapa Nui Effect
Terry Hunt and Carl Lipo define the Rapa Nui Effect as an example of what human ingenuity can do in the face of horrific odds.
Matsuda on Including the Archaeologically Incorrect
Archaeologist Akira Matsuda describes how on-site displays at the Somma Vesuviana came to include both the "archaeologically correct" and "incorrect".
Graeme Barker on Why Archaeology is Not a Science
In an encyclopedia entry in 1999, Graeme Barker gives his opinion about Why Archaeology is Not a Science
Nurit Bird-David on Hunter-Gatherers
From a 1992 article on the Nayaka in Man, anthropologist Nurit Bird-David makes some critical observations on trying to push people into cute little boxes.
Richard Klein on Archaeological Maxims
In an article debating behavioral modernity, paleontologist Richard Klein lays out what he believes should be an archaeological maxim about proof in archaeology.
George Cowgill on Reasonable Alternatives
Cowgill argues for a reasonable approach to using post-processual theories
Bruce Trigger on Indirect Contacts
Bruce Trigger defines archaeology by way of a left-handed compliment.
Glynn Isaac on Overextending Our Enthusiasm
Paleontologist and archaeologist Glynn Isaac was a prolific and influential writer, whose work in Africa still resonates today. Here is a quotation from his seminal tome on Olorgesailie.
William Dever on the Art of Archaeology
In this quote from an interview in Biblical Archaeology Review, archaeologist William Dever describes how archaeology is art, and sometimes not very good art.
Kenneth Weiss on Finding Hybrids
Anthropologist Kenneth Weiss asks if it is possible to find a middle ground between two sharply polarized views--or should we try for a hybrid?
Kent Flannery on What the World Wants from Archaeology
In this quote from The Golden Marshalltown, Kent Flannery gives a great argument for public archaeology.
Kent Flannery on Fun With Your Pants On
A classic quotation on archaeology, from archaeologist Kent V. Flannery
Archaeology Is...
A sub-collection of archaeological quotations about the study of archaeology itself.
John C. McEnroe on Discussing the Past
Archaeologist John C. McEnroe believes archaeology is a fluid and mutable process, from a 2002 article in Labyrinth Revisited.
R. Lee Lyman on a Seat at the High Table in Anthropology
In a June 2007 article in the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, R. Lee Lyman discusses the case to be made for archaeology's ability to contribute theory to anthropology.
Edward F. "Ned" Heite on Dirty Truths
Ned Heite was a witty, well-read historian/archaeologist who had a distinctive way with words.
Bruce D. Smith on Niches and Domestication
Archaeologist Bruce D. Smith discusses a unifying method of analyzing the process of plant and animal domestication: niche construction.
Terry Hunt on the Genocide on Easter Island
Terry L. Hunt provides evidence that the Easter Island civilization was decimated not by their own hand, but by the incursion of diseases and slave trading from Western civilization.
Maria Arioti and Clare Oxby on Predation and Production
From their 1999 article in Nomadic Peoples, "From hunter-fisher-gathering to herder-hunter-fisher-gathering in prehistoric times (Saharo-Sudanese region)," a quote on the reality of hunting and gathering from Maria Arioti and Clare Oxby.
Philip Barker on Experimental Validity in Archaeology
In his 2003 methods text, Philip Barker describes why archaeological science isn't testable.
David Clarke on Cheesy Science
David Clarke says we ought to stop thinking of archaeological data as a holey piece of Gruyere cheese.
Paul Bahn on Multiple Theories in Paleolithic Art
This quote from archaeologist Paul G. Bahn is from his 1995/1996 article in Evolutionary Anthropology called "New developments in Pleistocene art."
Paul Bahn Bluffs his Way in Archaeology
A quote from Paul Bahn, from his hilarious 1989 book "Bluff your way in archaeology."
Zainab Bahrani on the Iraqi National Museum
A quote from archaeologist Zainab Bahrani on her work assisting the Iraq museum protect the archaeological resources from looting in Iraq.
Chris Ballard on Multiple Narratives
Chris Ballard, of Australian National University, comments on using narratives in archaeological explanations, and the pioneering work of Jack Golson, in Ballard's 2003 article in Archaeology in Oceania.
Robert Bettinger on the Cost of Doing Business
From a 1998 SAA paper on the visibility of crackpots of archaeology, Robert L. Bettinger makes a pithy comment on why we continued to deal with them
John Berger on the Effects of Postmodernism
An archaeology-related quote from writer John Berger's 1991 book "Keeping a Rendezvous", if you believe post-modernism is related to archaeology, and god knows I do!
Geoffrey Bibby on Why an Archaeologist Digs
From Archaeologist Geoffrey Bibby's Testimony of the Spade, a quote about the reason for all that earth-moving.
Lewis Binford on Why He Will Never Be a Quote of the Week
Lewis Binford is one of the most influential archaeologists of his generation; his writing style is immediately recognizable, and in this interview with Paula Sabloff he explains why.
Peter Bleed on Living in the Human Niche
Archaeologist Peter Bleed describes why he believes it took so long for the docile reindeer to be domesticated
Barbara Bocek on Rampant Rodents
From her classic article on the measured effects of burrowing animals on archaeological sites, Barbara Bocek describes her results in painful detail.
Robson Bonnichsen and D. Gentry Steele on New World Entradas
A quote from archaeologists Rob Bonnichsen and Gentry Steele explains why one of the most interesting pieces of the American archaeology puzzle is who were the first Americans and when did they get here.
C. Loring Brace on Standardized Testing
Anthropologist C. Loring Brace explains why standardized tests are a bad idea
C. Loring Brace et al on the Chimerical Concept of Race
From an article on the scientific exploration of death in ancient Egyptian mummies, C. Loring Brace and a host of co-authors comments on how weird the concept of "race" really is.
Howard Carter on the Good Old Days
This quote comes from the quintessential Egyptologist Howard Carter, who in 1920 discovered Tutenkhamen's tomb; from a technical report on the boy king's tomb.
John Chapman on Creating Cultural Targets
Archaeologist John Chapman comments on how making national monuments makes them a target.
Doug Charles on Shades of the Past
Doug Charles the possibilities of the different interpretations of the past, in this quote from an article in the American Anthropologist.
Geoffrey Clark on NAGPRA's Fatal Flaw
A quote from archaeologist Geoffrey Clark on one of the problems with the enforcement of NAGPRA
Grahame Clark on Wasting One's Life
The archaeologist Grahame Clark was quoted by his biographer Brian Fagan.
David Clarke on Bad Samples
British archaeologist David Clarke was one of the early archaeologists to use statistics--but he was fully aware of their pitfalls.
Michael Coe on Small Favors
Archaeologist Michael Coe comments on how lucky it is that all our informants are dead.
Donald Crabtree on the Beauty of Projectile Point Technology
By most accounts, Donald Crabtree was an important scholar in the understanding of how prehistoric people made arrowheads and other stone tools; but he also understood the innate beauty of the objects.
O.G.S. Crawford on the Future of Archaeology
British archaeologist O.G.S. Crawford comments on what he foresees for the science of archaeology.
Glyn Daniel Gets a Fit of the Giggles
Archaeologist Glyn Daniel was one of the foremost public archaeologists of his day. Here's a classic comment from him from an editorial in Antiquity.
Kathleen Deagan on Ethnic Stews
Archaeologist Kathleen Deagan describes Latin America in evocative terms
Warren DeBoer on Experiencing Cahokia Archaeology
Archaeologist Warren DeBoer discusses one of the problems with archaeology -- working with archaeologists.
Tom Dillehay on the First People in South America
Archaeologist Tom Dillehay discusses the implications of the discovery of the Monte Verde site.
Clark Erickson on Sustainable Agriculture
Archaeologist Clark Erickson discusses the implications of his research in raised field agriculture of South America.
Brian Fagan on Owning the Past
This quotation on who owns the past was taken from Brian Fagan's introduction to the encyclopedic Oxford Companion to Archaeology
Christine Finn on Authenticity
Archaeologist Christine Finn comments on the problems of defining sacred and profane religious relics.
Laurence Flanagan on the Rationality of Our Forebears
This quote is from archaeologist Laurence Flanagan's book called Ancient Ireland: Life Before the Celts.
Kent Flannery on Killing our Informants
A quote of the week from Kent V. Flannery
Colin Renfrew on Testable Science
Colin Renfrew argues that archaeology is not testable, and while that may mean it is not therefore a science, Renfrew sees it as one of archaeology's great strengths.
Lars Fogelin on Tempering Imagination
A quotation about tempering imagination in archaeology, from Lars Fogelin's 2006 book, Archaeology of Early Buddhism
Robert Dunnell on the Value of the Questions We Ask
In a 1989 response to the processual/post-processual debates, archaeologist Robert Dunnell writes about what makes archaeology an empirical science--or not.
Robert Foley and Marta Mirazon Lahr on Sweet Studies
Archaeologists Robert Foley and Marta Mirazon Lahr state what they believe the best part of archaeology is.
Joan Gero on Distinguishing the Past from the Present
American archaeologist Joan Gero offers this comment concerning the decipherment of the past.
Heinrich Harke and Bettina Arnold on Political Influences
The two fragments that make up this quotations come from an article in Current Anthropology by Heinrich Harke, and the response to that article by Bettina Arnold, disputing the effects of political influence on archaeology.
John Hoopes on the Future of the Past
This quote is from one of the pioneers of archaeology on the Internet, American archaeologist John Hoopes.
David Hurst-Thomas on the Meaning of Discovery
American archaeologist David Hurst-Thomas has written numerous text books used by beginning students around the world.
Andrew Jones on Perceiving the Neolithic
Archaeologist Andrew Jones has some recommendations concerning the interpretations of the Neolithic period.
Rosemary Joyce on the Illusory "Ancient Maya"
In a recent review article in Reviews in Anthropology, Rosemary Joyce argues that the term "Ancient Maya" is an umbrella term that includes too many disparate ancient societies to be useful or meaningful.
Timothy Kaiser on the Politics of Archaeology in the Balkans
From archaeologist Timothy Kaiser from his chapter "Archaeology and ideology in southeast Europe" in Nationalism, Politics, and Archaeology, published in 1994 by Cambridge University Press.
Alice Beck Kehoe on Tolerance for Ambiguity
A quote concerning a most crucial tool in an archaeologist's kit; from Alice Beck Kehoe's 1998 book The Land of Prehistory.
Stephen Lekson on Influential Mythologies
In his 1999 book entitled The Chaco Meridian: Centers of Power in the Ancient Southwest, Stephen Lekson quotes what he considers the most influential archaeologists of our time: Indiana Jones.
Nathan Light on the Mental Prison of Myths
A quote from archaeologist Nathan Light on how tabloid archaeology might be trivializing science.
Max Mallowan on Agatha Christie and Older Wives
A quote from archaeologist Max Mallowan, widely attributed to his mystery novelist wife Agatha Christie, is on of our favorite archaeology-related quotes.
William Marquardt on Unearthing Support for Archaeology
Florida archaeologist William Marquardt discusses why it should be an easy sell to get people to support archaeology.
Lisa Maurizio on the Mystery of the Oracle at Delphi
A quote on how to keep the mystery while not losing the science on the Oracle at Delphi, from Lisa Maurizio's 1997 article in Classical Antiquity, Delphic Oracles As Oral Performances: Authenticity and Historical Evidence.
Lynn Meskell on the Hope for Archaeology
A quote from Lynn Meskell's book, Archaeology Under Fire, comments on the search for hope.
Margaret Murray on a Welter of Flint Chips
Margaret Murray's long and early career in archaeology gave her plenty of things to talk about, as can be seen from this quote from her 100th birthday essay.
George P. Nicholas and Kelly P. Bannister on Copyrighting the Past
A quote from the article "Copyrighting the Past? Emerging intellectual property rights issues in archaeology, from George P. Nicholas and Kelly P. Bannister and Current Anthropology
Philip Phillips on New World Variations
The classic text on the history of archaeology in the Americas was written by Philip Phillips and Gordon Willey; this is the classic quote.
Lin Poyer and Robert L. Kelly on the Mystification of the Mikea
Anthropologists Lin Poyer and Robert L. Kelly spent some amount of time investigating the cultural group called Mikea on the island of Madagascar, giving them insight into some of humanity's deepest attractions.
Adrian Praetzellis on Having Too Much Fun
This quote is from Adrian Praetzellis' book Dug to Death, in which he (in the guise of character Hannah Green) describes why fieldwork is just too much fun.
Adrian Praetzellis on Tolerating Ambiguity
This quote is taken from archaeologist Adrian Praetzellis' remarkable text book, Death by Theory.
Jeremy Sabloff on Archaeology's Role Models
Archaeologist Jeremy Sabloff asks why there are no good role models for archaeology in the popular press.
Heinrich Schliemann, Making a Case for Hasserlik
David Traill's 1995 book about Schliemann and Frank Calvert uses this quote from Schliemann's diary to support his claim that Calvert knew about Hisarlik being Troy first.
Sellar and Yeatman on What History Is
The book written by W. C. Sellar and R. J. Yeatman in 1930 called 1066 and all That, was probably the first of the modern jocular histories of the study of the past.
Carmel Shrire on Why She Became an Archaeologist
South African archaeologist Carmel Shrire is a witty and awesomely talented writer, and here she makes a joke about the best things about archaeology.
Lawrence Straus on Interpreting Genetic Data
Paleoanthropologist Lawrence Guy Straus perhaps knows better than anyone else how to apply caution to the interpretation of genetic data.
John Younger on Scientific Observations
19th century archaeologist and historian John Younger describes his take on whether archaeology is a science or not.
John Lloyd Stephens on the Moral Effect of Maya Monuments
Traveler John Lloyd Stephens was among the first white explorers to get a glimpse of the Maya monuments; here's what struck him about them.
Sarah Tarlow Negotiates Between a Rock and a Whirlpool
This quotation comes from Sarah Tarlow's 2000 article in Current Anthropology, called "Emotion in Archaeology."
R. E. Taylor on the Two Cultures
Archaeologist R.E. Taylor discusses the secondary status of prehistoric archaeology.
Walter Taylor, in Mid-Diatribe
Walter Taylor was, no kidding, one of the most influential archaeologists of the 20th century. But he did tend to rant.
Bruce Trigger on Multiple Viewpoints
Canadian archaeologist Bruce Trigger's breadth of career gives him a broad understanding of what archaeology could or might be.
James Whitley on Fishy Ideas
Archaeologist James Whitley made this acerbic comment on the state of archaeology today.
Howard Winters on the Meaning of Civilization
A quote from archaeologist Howard Winters, on categories and how they're affected by civilization.
Leonard Woolley on the Business of Archaeology
Leonard Woolley, excavator of Ur and knighted by the Queen of England, peers into the future and comments on the effects of the Cultural Resourcement Management movement.
J. J. A. Worsaae on Taking One's Past Seriously
Jens Jacob Asmussen Worsaae was a Danish museum director of the 19th century, who had a hand in developing a classification system for the past.