On some occasions this may be so, and no one should shrink from celebrating the fact that many amateurs practise archaeology primarily because they enjoy it. If archaeology's voluntary sector began to display more intellectual ambition, thinking nationally while acting locally, and more personal enterprise in initiating projects, commercial archaeology and conservation would be placed in a richer context. In the longer term, we should revisit deeper issues. These cluster round the basic question of what archaeology is actually for . The simple answer is that consciousness of time, and of ourselves as social beings, are among humanity's defining characteristics.
Archaeology is an extension of that.
Being so, it is no more optional than laughter, memory, or love, and requires no functionalist justification. Down the years archaeology has become more disciplined and systematised in its practice. This will continue, and properly so. Systems, however, can easily become confused with the aims which they exist to serve. The way to run cowboy contractors off the road is for archaeologists of all backgrounds to come together to restore archaeology's sense of identity and purpose as a humane discipline.