The journal originated in an annual edited volume series, Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, established by Michael Schiffer in 1978.[2] The purpose of the series was to publish review articles covering current issues in archaeological theory.[3][4] It was published by Academic Press between 1978 and 1987, and by Plenum Press between 1989 and 1993 as Archaeological Method and Theory.[5] The series moved to a quarterly journal format in 1994, in order to expand its scope from reviews to other types of papers.[5] Schiffer continued as editor until 2000. From 2000 to 2018, it was edited by Catherine M. Cameron and James M. Skibo.[2] The current editors are Valentine Roux and Margaret E. Beck.[6]
The journal is often associated with the processual, behavioural, and evolutionary schools of archaeological theory, but aims to "welcome 'all theoretical archaeology'".[2] For example, a landmark paper by Ian Hodder, which established the name post-processual archaeology for the theoretical reaction to processual archaeology he led in the early 1980s, was published in volume 8 of Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory.[7][8]
In 2016 a special issue of the journal was dedicated to papers that challenged a binary approach to gender, which included perspectives from queer and transgender archaeologies.[9]
