Bridging history and prehistory: General reflections and particular quandries

Worth, John E. (author)

69th Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Baton Rouge, LA, 9 Nov 2012

November 9, 2012

How can social entities derived from spatial and temporal patterning in material culture be reconciled with social entities derived from documentary accounts based on the assertions of both colonial and indigenous informants? How can archaeologists and ethnohistorians translate their independently-derived conceptions of the social landscape for one another? Using the Southeastern U.S. as a backdrop, this paper explores fundamental ontological and methodological differences between how we perceive and construct these social entities using material and documentary data, highlighting the rarely-challenged assumption that ceramic assemblages are reasonable indicators of the ethnic identity of their makers, and suggesting potential alternatives and solutions.

uwf:22863