Contract Archaeology

The rapid expansion of contract archaeology as the primary sector of archaeological knowledge-making in many developed countries make it an illustrative example of which effects the organization and re-organization of a particular knowledge-producing sector affects the conditions for how knowledge can be made. The proliferation of contracted extra-mural work in different countries has shown the importance of adequate guidelines and careful consideration of how and what to regulate to reach desirable outcomes. In addition, contract archaeology provides insights into the difficulties of keeping together extra- and intra-mural knowledge-making enterprises even when they share the same outspoken objectives.