The authors identify a number of outstanding research questions about the Archaic Period (10,000-4,300 BP) and based upon these, make a number of suggestions about the conduct of future research in the region. These research questions include: (1) when did people first enter the south-central Andes, what were the climatic conditions at that time, and what characterized the transition to the Archaic? (2) What do we know of the Archaic on the eastern flanks of the Andes? (3) Where is the Archaic in Bolivia? (4) What was the nature of the Archaic adaptation along the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca? and (5) what is the status of our efforts to build a sound regional chronology for the Archaic? We conclude with a discussion of three aspects of culture process in the region: (a) adaptations of the earliest inhabitants of the region, (b) the process of animal domestication and food production, and (c) the origins of complexity.