In this paper, I examine historical trends in the development of Santa Barbara Channel archaeology, with an emphasis on the last 30 years. Since 1960, 4 developments have been particularly significant in shaping the way archaeology is done in the Santa Barbara Channel today: (1) the dramatic increase in the amount of archaeology being done; (2) the fundamental shift in archaeology from an essentially academic discipline to one dominated by commercial enterprise; (3) the development of new techniques for analysing archaeological remains, techniques that have expanded the range of questions we can address; and (4) the increasingly active role that Native Americans have played in archaeology. These trends reflect broader patterns in California and American archaeology, but they have followed a somewhat unique trajectory in the Santa Barbara area. Regarding where Santa Barbara Channel archaeology may be headed in the 1990s and beyond, I suggest that paradigms now being developed may lead to a "new synthesis" that will incorporate the best approaches of 20th century archaeologists into a revitalized record of California's cultural past.