The main trend in archaeology in the 1970s, "processual archaeology," was shaped according to the model of the natural sciences. This trend was subsequently challenged by a "post-processual" archaeology that preferred to follow the broader perspectives of history and social anthropology, emphasizing that the context of relationships and the meaning of behavior must be taken into account, as well as the necessity for archaeologists to recognize their ideological uses.

Ian Hodder, a central figure in the new movement, argues in this book that when interpreting the behavior of past societies, we must combine an interest in the meaningful context with the study of both ecological constraints and economic and social processes. He is thus led to discuss systemic theory and structuralist and Marxist approaches to archaeology.

Post-processual archaeology is socially engaged and polyphonic: because if material remains can somehow be seen as texts, then they admit multiple and conflicting readings. Hodder believes that archaeologists must combine various perspectives if they are to meet their complex and uncertain task: "to translate the meaning of the texts of the past into their contemporary language." [Excerpt from the text on the back cover of the edition]