Within the context of general scientific inquiry, energetics involves the measurement of energy (in some form) and its transformations within a defined system (Odum 1971). As a method of analysis, it is well established in such disciplines as biochemistry, ecology, physics, and geology. In the context of cultural systematics, energetics involves the quantification of the processes of harnessing, moving, and consuming energy within a cultural system. Since most archaeologists feel epistemologically committed to the analysis of empirical remains of past cultures, energetics in this context is defined as the method of quantifying the energy expended in those activities associated with the production, distribution, and consumption of materials within a cultural system. The evolutionary principle underlying an energetic approach is that people tend to adopt more energy-efficient behaviors and institutions over less efficient alternatives, with energetics providing the methodology through which this can be scientifically modeled and tested. Arguments against energetic analyses in archaeology are almost exclusively directed at its specific application rather than the logic and principle underlying energetics per se (eg, Webster 1981).