>          I'll split infinitives if I want to,
>                 Larry

On a more light-hearted note, I'd like to reassure Larry that according
to the most recent edition of the concise OED, it is perfectly
acceptable
to split infinitives - although the jury is still out on whether or not
prepositions on the end can be put.

As far as the wider problems of language are concerned, surely we have
no
one but ourselves to blame?  Taking as a priori suppositions that each
social group constructs its own language and means of communication, and
that archaeologists are a social group, we are therefore responsible
for the contextualisation of our own dialect of "archaeological
academese" (an obscure, but apparently international, dialect of
English).
Problems with that language are therefore the responsibility of the
discipline as a whole.  After all, most academic journals don't
precisely
encourage a breezy writing style.  We create our own parameters of
debate.
(alright, it's a bit reductive as an argument, but it's just a thought).

Personally, I think archaeology conferences could do with a few more
of Adrian and Mary Praetzellis' storyteller sessions, but I think
we're still more likely to hear someone discuss something along
the lines of "applications of a supra-theoretical dialectic to
epistemology
and paradigm development in historical archaeology".

Mea Culpa ;-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alasdair Brooks
Department of Archaeology
University of York
King's Manor
York
YO1 7EP
England, UK
phone: 01904 433931
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The Buffalo tastes the same on both sides of the border"
Sitting Bull