What is Historical Archaeology?
"Historical Archaeology is a multidisciplinary field that shares
special relationship with the formal disciplines of Anthropology & History, focuses
it's attention on the post historic past and seeks to understand the global
nature of modern life." (Orser & Fagan. 1995. pp 14)
What are the Goals of Historical Archaeology?
- to provide information useful for historical preservation and site interpretation.
- to document the lifeways of past peoples.
- to study the complex process of modernisation. (adapted
from Orser and Fagan. 1995. pp 56)
What elements are studied to answer questions to achieve these goals?
Sites
|
Non Sites
|
| Domestic Sites |
Artefacts |
| Industrial Sites |
Artefacts as Commodities |
| Military Sites |
Creation of Artefacts |
| Underwater Sites |
Modification of Environments |
| Special or Multipurpose sites |
Transport and Linkages |
| Burial Sites |
Adaptation of culture to local conditions. |
 |
 |
| Colonial occupation site Kuching Malaysia. S
McManus |
Local Domestic site on the fringe of English
and Chinese Colonial sites. Kuching Malaysia. S McManus |
What are some of the sub fields?
| Industrial |
Transport |
Contact |
| Commodities |
Cultural Interaction |
Gender and Status |
Often to answer a question an open mind is required and the integration of
all available
information, from different fields or varying sources of information to assist in answering questions.
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