目前學科內外對中國考古學的發展狀況缺乏理論化的系統把握,經過修正的范式與范式變遷的概念可以作為了解它的工具。盡管中國考古學在范式形成之前存在一些約束因素,但經過數十年的發展已形成數個類似范式的研究形態。在這些形態中,從新石器—原史考古中興起的文化歷史考古范式達到了比較成熟的程度。這一范式對考古學的另外兩個分支舊石器—古人類考古、古典—歷史考古領域產生了顯著的約束。從學科內外關聯的角度以及與西方考古學的范式變遷比較可以發現,中國考古學的范式變遷中存在著一些外在但關鍵的約束,限制了考古學理論的擴展。如果能夠加強理論建設,中國考古學研究還有可能形成若干真正的范式。

At present,neither those within the discipline nor those outside it have a systematic theoretical grasp of the state of development of Chinese archaeology.A tool to achieve this could be a revised paradigm and the concept of paradigm shift.Although there were some constraints prior to paradigm formation,several decades of development have seen the formation of a number of paradigm-like models,among which the cultural-historical model on the basis of the Neolithic-protohistorical archaeology is the most mature.This model is a significant constraint on two other branches of archaeology,the Paleolithic-paleoanthropological and the Classicalhistorical.From the perspective of connection within and without the discipline and through a comparison with the paradigm shift in Western archaeology,we can see some external but critical constraints in Chinese archaeology which limit its theoretical expansion.If we strengthen the construction of theory, Chinese archaeology may yet develop a number of genuine paradigms.