The professor for my class in "Method and Theory in History"
 at the
University of Idaho (lo, those many years ago), always
 stressed that
"ANYBODY who wrote ANYTHING had a bias and you really needed
 to
unnderstand the socal/religous/economic back round of the
 writer or the
 theoretical underpinnings of an historian before you
 believed a word
that they said".  Actually, I think he used the phrase 'axe
 to grind" rather
than "bias".

He also beieved that historians were no more objective than
 any other
trained scientific observer.  They major two cautions which
 I can still
remember is that "history is written by the winners" and
 that "revisionist
history is no more accurate than the original version".

I sure wish more historical archaeologists had taken a
 course in method
and theory in history.  I would not have had to have heard
 so much
pendantic claptrap the last 25 years. (Am definately not
 impuning the last
few messages - no flames please).

Stop and smell the flowers.

Smoke Pfeiffer



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Smoke (Michael A.) Pfeiffer, RPA
Archaeologist
Ozark-St. Francis National Forests
605 West Main Street
Russellville, AR 72801
501-968-2354 Ext. 233
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 Absence of evidence IS NOT evidence of absence.