Binford versus Childe: What makes an archaeologist influential?

This article asks whether Lewis Binford or V. Gordon Childe was the most influential archaeologist of the twentieth century. This is, quite frankly, a question that has no objective answer, but asking it leads us to consider what makes an archaeologist influential. The answer lies in knowing the field widely and well, in thinking about big questions, and in providing what the field needs, in its current historical condition, to answer those big questions.