Robert L Schuyler wrote:
 
> History Archaeology is a branch of general archaeology which studies the
> emergence, transformation and nature of the Modern World (AD 1400 to the
> present) and so, by definition, is global. Certainly we need to emphasize
> both the "local" and the world-wide nature of our discipline to
> pre-college students and the public.
 
Just to release the proverbial cat amongst the pigeons....
 
Frankly (occasional encouraging exceptions aside), trying to convince
the vast
majority of Americans (including archaeologists) that any part of the
world
outside the immediate vicinity of the USA matters in and of itself
frequently
proves to be a terrifyingly dispiriting task.  I know plenty of people
in the
States who pay lip service to the idea, and occasionally a small part of
the
'outside' world becomes academically trendy for a while (Africa appears
to be
doing quite nicely for the time being, which is highly encouraging - but
how
long will it last?), but only a minority appear to be able to think of
the 'outside'
independent of American research agendas.  Note that I don't think that
this is a failing
of American archaeology (historical or otherwise) per se, but rather a
product
of the American conceptual perception of the rest of the world in
general.  No
doubt some subscribers to HISTARCH will feel an unnecessary need to send
me
examples of international work based in the States that disprove my
point; as
I said, I recognise that there are exceptions, but I would still hold
that
conceptually, they're very much in the minority.
 
The SHA, for example, seems to have an ongoing minor ideological battle
between
a stated desire to be seen as an 'global' society,and the fact that a
vast
majority of its members are from the United States.  Usually the latter
win out -
quite understandable given that's where the membership money lies - but
this
sometimes rests uneasily with the former.
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alasdair Brooks
Department of Archaeology
University of York
King's Manor
York
YO1 2EP
England, UK
phone: 01904 433931
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The Buffalo tastes the same on both sides of the border"
Sitting Bull