Archaeology and Development [and Comments and Reply]

The establisment of a national site survey in the Solomon Islands provides a case study of the way in which the discipline of archaeology, developed in highly industrialised, wealthy countries, must be adapted if it is to prove meaningful in other parts of the world. Such changes are not only organisational and logistical; they extend to the conceptual basis of archaeology and to the relationship of the discipline to society. Specifically discussed are the problems of interpreting archaeological discoveries in terms of traditional perspectives of the past, the establishment of an archaeological unit and fieldwork programme, the question of decentralisation, rescue archaeology, protective legislation, the use of archaeology within the educational system, and the role of the external researcher.