From K. Kris Hirst,
Your Guide to Archaeology.
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Definition: Cognitive archaeology is a theoretical underpinning of archaeological research that is interested in the material expression of human ways of thinking about things, such as gender, class, status, kinship. This is a relatively new movement in archaeology, probably started as a reaction to the dry positivism of processual archaeology, and related to the post-processual movement. Archaeologists associated with cognitive archaeology include James Deetz and Robert Bednarik; but there are lots of others.

This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology. Sources for the term include the references listed on the front page of the Dictionary, and the websites listed in the sidebar. Any mistakes are the responsibility of Kris Hirst.