What a scary opinion!
 
My country was only settled by Europeans in the mid 1800s and if historical
archaeologists didn't look at post 1890 rural sites, there would be a lot
less archaeology going on down here!
 
My own MA thesis looks at several sites with dates ranging from 1870s -
1940s and I certainly hope to prove that documentary data is of little use
without supporting archaeological and ethnographic data.
 
Please keep this topic going - it would be good to hear people's views on
the subject.
 
Tracy Connolly
Dunedin, New Zealand