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The classical discipline concerned with the understanding of texts consists of hermeneutics (see figure below). It can appear as a baffling concept. 

As a discipline hermeneutics does not exist as a monolithic system but, reflecting the pluralism of the age, as medley of concurrent approaches described variously as an art, a science, a set of rules and methods, the study of understanding, and the like. The philosophical debate surrounding hermeneutics has resulted in vague definitions of the approach.

The Hermeneutic Method Applied to Archaeological Research