In Experiencing the Past, Michael Shanks explores the character of archaeology, reclaiming the sentiment and feeling which is often lost in a purely academic approach to the subject.

Shanks considers the key concerns of archaeology in the 1990s: the debates surrounding heritage and cultural identity as well as the controversy over scientific objectivity and the validity of different claims to the past. The result is the portrayal of archaeology as a field of human discernment and understanding, which promotes a critical engagement with the material past.