This book is in part reflective, in that it considers where archaeology is and how it got there; it is also active as it provides suggestions and visions on how we as archaeologists might shape the discipline’s future. The volume is organised into four parts, each comprising short and diverse chapters. The 14 essays cover topics ranging from osteoarchaeology and landscape to ancient DNA, religion and more, all broadly placing the subject matter in a discussion of the discipline and its future.

This book opens with Douglas Price listing what is enjoyable about archaeology before asking “What could be better? In fact, there are several things that could be better …” (p.xiii). This is followed by Gary Feinman stating in the Introduction that archaeology has been through many crises but still has many unsolved challenges (p.xv). With the aim of providing a sense of direction for archaeology, the theme of highlighting issues and potential solutions is carried throughout the chapters. This gives a slightly negative tone to the book, particularly because at times the issues seem insurmountable, outside of our control, or the suggestions do not align with the issues identified. For example, one chapter suggests extensive upskilling and greater engagement with scientific techniques while admitting that in some places there is little-to-no access to some technologies and laboratories. This might leave a reader feeling less enthusiastic than they were before.

The issues highlighted by both editors are certainly real and even threatening to the discipline although they are not all relevant to all archaeologists, depending on specialism or location. For example, in the USA the sector faces its own specific challenges, including the conflation with anthropology, something Price has lobbied against. Funding archaeological research, a problem we are all familiar with, is highlighted and again this varies widely, particularly when we look beyond those working in the field and laboratories. The diversity of archaeological research is recognised in both the Preface and Introduction and, understandably, not all branches and subsets of the discipline are covered. The subsequent chapters lean heavily towards the laboratory and field-based sections of archaeology.

Part 1, ‘Diversity across regions’, begins with Jennifer Birch’s chapter discussing her experience returning to a site and refining its dating. My former point about the book’s more scientific leaning is evident in Birch’s argument that scientific dating is required to write meaningful archaeological histories (p.9). While that would likely be disputed by some in the discipline, her discussion on dating and decolonising archaeology will be of interest to many. Science as the potential future of African Archaeology is discussed in Chapter 2 by Shadreck Chirikure. He discusses the limitations facing research agendas and the intersection with both colonialism and tourism, and highlights the importance of partnerships and collaborations. Similarly, Victor Thompson reviews the imperative nature of genuine collaboration with Tribal Nations in eastern North America. Closing Part 1, David Carballo’s fascinating chapter explores co-operation and collective action. Continuing the step away from exclusively top-down perspectives, he uses architecture and space to discuss resource management and labour in the past, then makes the connection to challenges we face today.

A question running through the chapters is one that has been asked before: how can archaeology be more relevant particularly with policymakers? This issue is discussed in the chapter by Seth Quintus, who suggests that little progress has been made to remedy the issue (p.42). The onus seems to be placed firmly on the archaeologist and I wonder whether it would be more useful to emphasise the role of policymakers to do a robust job and avail themselves of the data that have been published. Quintus usefully argues for more trans-disciplinarity and co-created research terms particularly in projects exploring human–environment relationships.

Feinman points out early in the book that archaeology is a young discipline that has survived adolescence. I am reminded of David Clarke (Reference Clarke1973) charting the progression of the discipline, and Jane Grenville’s (Reference Grenville1997) discussion on how a fully mature discipline will bring in and develop its own theoretical viewpoints and paradigms. This leads to Kristian Kristiansen’s chapter ‘Toward a post-paradigmatic archaeology’, in which he does not actually argue for abandoning all paradigms but does point out that the past is too complicated to be understood through one paradigm. The issue of boxes, or more accurately the archaeologists’ predisposition to put things into boxes—real, categorical and theoretical—is picked up in Chapter 9 by Jacob Holland-Lulewicz. He puts forward small yet powerful changes to lexicon and language that, he suggests, could shift how we do archaeology and avoid imposing assumptions about relationships in the past.

Part 3 introduces ‘Conceptual implications’ and opens with Johannes Müller’s discussion of a new integrative archaeology. This chapter embraces and utilises archaeology’s plurality and diversity rather than viewing them as things to overcome. In Chapter 11, Eszter Banffy turns to Europe, debating some of the broader challenges facing the area, the research taking place therein and the work undertaken by the European Association of Archaeologists. This chapter is followed by Susan Alcock’s pulse-check on classical archaeology. She reports on the expected and unexpected contributions classical archaeology has made (and can continue to make) to our understanding of current global issues including migration, pollution and genocide.

Agreement across the chapters is found in the authors’ assertions that archaeology is relevant and important for both the present and future. Not only is this positivity needed among the highlighted challenges facing our discipline but the discussions set up ways in which this relevance could be amplified. This book will be of interest to many but perhaps—in a practical sense—more so to those engaged with global challenges and policy. It is slightly less relevant to those working more firmly in the humanities and/or based in Europe as the challenges discussed in the book are at times quite specific in terms of region and subject matter. This does mean that the broad issues (beyond publishing which is discussed in Chapter 13) that face humanities scholars are not addressed even though these acutely affect those in archaeology. In saying that, this makes for an interesting and energising read for those doing any archaeological research because it stimulates connections and engenders alignment throughout our diverse discipline which, it seems, may be a crucial stepping stone to achieving the future of archaeology as envisioned in the book.