Conclusion: Archaeology as Archaeology That Matters

This final chapter serves to emphasise the main themes of the work as a whole and to make the final argument—that archaeology is important. It examines how the notion of ethics informs and drives all aspects of archaeological practice. It revisits the idea of archaeology as a field of philosophical ideas that can inform us of not only the past but of presents and futures and how to engage with the material universe. It explores the truly global nature of archaeology and that it never stands still—it is a discipline constantly reinventing itself. All these aspects combine to make archaeology a field that matters.