Abstract

Scaffolding and concept-metaphors have emerged as key terms within alternative approaches to the epistemological analysis of archaeological practice. Each term contains definitional ambiguities, including distinctly broad and narrow definitions in the case of scaffolding. I argue that the broad application of the scaffolding metaphor, most closely associated with the work of Alison Wylie, allows one to understand concept-metaphors as a specific category of scaffolding. At the same time, the broad application of the scaffolding metaphor provides a dynamic and flexible way of organizing the epistemological analysis of archaeological practice because it is acting as a concept-metaphor.