Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>This chapter reimagines a virtual archaeology as a reflexive, critically engaged, and theoretically generative domain, foregrounding its potential to interrogate—not merely represent—the material past. Tracing the evolution from early computational modeling to contemporary algorithmic mediation, the discussion situates virtual archaeology within an expanded epistemological terrain shaped by artificial intelligence, actor-network theory, and pragmatic eclecticism. As AI systems increasingly participate in processes of archaeological interpretation, this chapter examines their agency, the challenges of algorithmic bias, and the implications for authorship, authority, and ethical stewardship. Arguing against technological determinism, the chapter proposes a reconfiguration of the archaeologist’s role—from sole author to curator, collaborator, and critical interlocutor within digitally mediated networks of meaning-making. Virtual archaeology, it contends, must embrace a posture of speculative reflexivity, treating digital outputs as contingent, situated interventions rather than fixed truths. By doing so, the field can remain attuned to the complexities, contradictions, and creative potentials of making knowledge in the digital age. It is in this space, between the known and the unknown, the human and the machine, that digital (virtual) archaeology finds its future.</jats:p>