LECTURE 1

DEFINITIONS &

CONCEPTS

There is currently a great deal of disagreement among scholars

regarding the definition of historical archaeology.

This situation has arisen partly because historical archaeologists employ different approaches and

diverse methods to derive data for their study.

This is because of two reasons:

Some scholars emphasize specific areas and things in its practice.

Others consider the discipline by their methodologies which are the data sets used and their underlying

epistemologies

Definition 1

Orser and Fagan (1995: 2) for example, define historical

archaeology as a discipline that “combines excavated information

with traditional historical information.”

Advantage

• It recognizes the relevance of archaeological data and

historical documents as important sources of data.

Disadvantage

• The major adverse criticism of this definition has come from Africanist historical archaeologists because it

excluded many societies in sub-Saharan Africa which were non-

literate and hence could not document their past in writing.

• Africanists historical archaeologists reject the notion that it is archaeology used solely

in conjunction with documented data.

• To remedy the anomaly, they argue historical archaeologists need to

incorporate oral traditional history as an important source of information when

researching non-literate societies.

Definition 2

• Merrick Posnansky and Christopher DeCorse (1986: 6) also defined

historical archaeology as “archaeology undertaken in periods or for areas in which the principal source of contextual information is

provided by documentary evidence.”

Advantage

• It recognizes the relevance of contextual data and its

complementary role in buttressing archaeological

data.

Disadvantage

• Critics have noted that even in literate societies, the extent to which historical

data can be used to illuminate the human past is limited because of

inconsistencies in the historical data and biased reportage especially when they have come from European writers and

explorers during the early contact period.

Definition 3

• Stanley South (1977: 25) defines historical archaeology as

“archaeology carried out on sites of the historic

period.”

Advantage

• This definition places emphasis on chronology and geography and considers

the two as integral in contemporary historical archaeological research.

• It can thus be used to study non-literate cultures.

disadvantage

•Historic periods vary from place to place.

There is thus no specific time range to place the

historic period.

Definition 4

• “The archaeology of the spread of European culture throughout the world since the fifteenth century and its

impact on indigenous peoples” (Deetz 1996: 5).

Advantage

•This definition considers the

discipline from a global perspective.

Disadvantage

• Europeans were not the only people to have colonized other peoples. There have been

instances where other races were involved in the colonization process.

• For example in certain places in Africa, traditional ethnic groups are known to have colonized neighbouring ethnic groups during

certain periods in their history.

Definition 5

• “The study of the material manifestation of the expansion of

European culture into the non-European world starting in the

fifteenth century and ending with industrialization or the present,

depending on local conditions” (R. L. Schuyler 1970: 88).

Advantage

• This definition aptly describes and suits the Afro –European culture contact along the West Coast, Southern Africa and the

East African Coast.

• The period also coincides with the African encounter with Europeans on the

Guinea Coast

Disadvantage

• These definitions have been rejected by most Africanist historical archaeologists

mainly because they reflected the ethnocentric views of European scholars

who only highlighted the impact of European culture on the indigenous populace and ignored the impact of

indigenous cultural life-ways on Europeans.

Disadvantage

• It emphasizes European expansionism and its attendant

rise of global capitalism and industrialization primarily

because it “privileges Western history over indigenous local

understandings.”

Disadvantage

• Scholars like Pikirayi and Pwiti (1999) have also noted that this definition

completely negated African interactions with indigenous

populations outside Africa such as India and China which long predated

European contact.

Definition 6

• Orser and Fagan (1995: 14) defined historical archaeology as “a

multidisciplinary field that shares a special relationship with the formal

disciplines of anthropology and history, focuses its attention on the post

prehistoric past and seeks to understand the global nature of modern life.”

advantage

• It recognizes the multi-faceted nature of historical archaeology.

• It does not specify a specific time frame.

• It recognizes the contribution of all groups of people involved in the culture

contact

Advantage

• It also emphasized the cultural and historical

processes of the modern world as well as the global dimension of the discipline.

Definition 7

• “The study of sites which can be interpreted with the aid of historical evidence such as

written sources, oral traditions and historically datable imported

artifacts” (Pikirayi 1999: 70).

END