In deference to Dr. Schuyler, I have changed my e-mail signature from
"Historic Archaeologist" to "Historical Archaeologist."  Now, if we just
get those "Prehistorical Archaeologists" to recognize their mistake ...

Respectfully, Mark
___________________________________

Mark C. Branstner, RPA
Historical Archaeologist

Illinois State Archaeological Survey
Prairie Research Institute
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
209 Nuclear Physics Lab, MC-571
23 East Stadium Drive
Champaign, IL 61820

Phone: 217.244.0892
Fax: 217.244.7458
Cell: 217.549.6990
[log in to unmask]

"Memory vectors collective success for any people."
--- Randall Robinson.







On 5/9/12 9:11 AM, "Robert L. Schuyler" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>These introductions are really interesting, especially the various
>interests and the global spread of our membership. So here goes:
>
>Robert L. Schuyler - historical archaeologist and anthropologist (BA
>U of Arizona 1964, MA 1968 and PhD 1975 UC-Santa Barbara). I started
>in Southwestern prehistory and Maya archaeology but in graduate
>school shifted into historical archaeology after meeting James Deetz.
>I joined the SHA, the SPMA, the SIA, and the Australian (now
>Australasian) Society for Historical Archaeology when they were
>founded and attended the second official SHA meeting (1969 in
>Tucson). I am Past President of the SHA (1982) and past Executive
>Officer of CNEHA and in 1999 received the J.C. Harrington Medal. I
>have only missed four SHA meetings since 1968.
>
>I am interested in World historical archaeology (all periods) but
>right now am working on the 19th-20th centuries in southern New
>Jersey. I run a graduate program in our field at the University of
>Pennsylvania, founded by John Cotter, which has produced about 40
>PhDs in the field.
>
>I am a major advocate of historical archaeology as part of
>anthropology [although recently I have observed that most of our
>cultural anthropological colleagues are nuts] but also think we need
>to be well grounded in other fields, especially History.
>
>Some pet peeves:
>
>(1) It is "Historical Archaeology" not "Historic" Archaeology,
>
>(2) Historical Archaeology is the archaeology of the Modern World
>(ca. 1400 to the present C.E.). It is not the archaeology of all
>history. Both in terms of culture history and cultural evolution this
>last half millennium or 600 years is one of the most important stages
>in human history.
>
>(3) To succeed Historical Archaeology must clearly and consistently
>define itself. The field, however, faces two dangers. First, defining
>itself out of existence by not being clear who we are, what we study,
>and why our subject is important to general scholarship and to the
>public. Second, it could also be badly damaged by internal
>"balkinization", by trying to set off completely separate,
>independent specializations inside the field. For example, there is
>no "African American Archaeology", only "African American Historical
>Archaeology."
>
>(4) Our field is the only specifically global archaeology and so we
>must remain global in orientation and pay attention to our
>international members but also equally support our student members
>most of which are located here in North America.
>
>We have a great journal and newsletter and some of the best
>conferences (just the right size) in general scholarship.
>
>that's enough.     Bob Schuyler