Adrian Praetzellis on Tolerating Ambiguity

The archaeological record contains many levels of meaning. On the surface level, we can discover the dates and designs of things, of who did what and where. That much is easy and needs only techniques, not theories. But to dig below the surface (so to speak), to speculate about why people did what they did--either consciously or as unknowing participants in a never-ending historical/political/ecological process--that requires a tolerance for ambiguity. It also helps to have some humility, to recognize that today's stunning insights may tomorrow be no more than orange peels on the compost pile of intellectual history.

Adrian Praetzellis. 2001. Death by Theory. Altamira Press, Walnut Creek, CA.