I have to agree Jim. Here in SC it is common practice to divide time and 
culture into Paleo, Archaic, Woodland, Mississippian and Historic, and 
to give a specific date for the beginning and end of each "period," 
ignoring cultural differences that can persist for hundreds of years. 
(Did everyone practicing Late Woodland lifeways really up and leave when 
the Mississippian Period began about 1000BP? If so, where'd they go?). 
That is one reason I suggested avoiding bias by using time periods.


On 3/22/2018 1:25 PM, Jim Gibb wrote:
> Yea, Scott: I have to take exception to your suggestion. I've been using Maryland's state site files for several research projects lately and can confirm that how these data are structured constrains research. This isn't about being politically correct.
> The state had a permanent exhibit in which prehistory was on one side of the room and history on the other side of the passageway that divided the room. In the passageway they had a glass case with 'Contact' material in a laudable, but unsuccessful attempt to bridge the divide. One of the implicit statements taken away from the exhibit is that Indians were here, but they disappeared during the early years of European colonization, never to return. Since then, Maryland has granted recognition to several indigenous groups, a result of petitioning and lobbying, not of exhibit design.
> It is a given in anthropology that the words we use structure our views of the world. Site forms are so basic to structuring the views of generations of archaeologists, they should be periodically critiqued and revised.
> Jim
>
>   
>
>   
>
> Jim Gibb
> Gibb Archaeological Consulting
> Annapolis, MD
> [log in to unmask]
> 410.693.3847
>
>   
>
>   
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Speal, Charles S <[log in to unmask]>
> To: HISTARCH <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Thu, Mar 22, 2018 12:57 pm
> Subject: Re: Protohistory on the Utah site form
>
> On the other hand, if all you are doing is modernizing the State site form, it's probably not necessary to navel-gaze yourself into oblivion. At the end of the day what I imagine you are looking for is an effective check box that adequately classifies a newly identified resource on the basis of what may be a minimal amount of available diagnostic information--without being blatantly offensive.
>
> You can probably leave the bulk of the pc term-chasing to those publishing their grand inferences.
>
> Scott S.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Hannah Russell
> Sent: Thursday, March 22, 2018 9:37 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Protohistory on the Utah site form
>
> Good Morning HistArch community,
>
> Over the past year in Utah, we have been working with a new site form (see link below).  One of the new features on the site form is a new site class.  The state has added "Protohistoric" to "Prehistoric" and "Historic".  For a lot of reasons, this addition is pretty exciting, the state has acknowledged on the site form the false duality of "prehistory"
> and "history".  That's an awesome step towards better inclusivity in the archaeological record, and a more holistic way to talk about the historical
> experiences of Indigenous peoples!   As the site form and manual are
> written however, the use of the word is incorrect.  The manual defines prehistoric as Native American sites prior to 1800, Protohistoric as 1800-1900, and historic as non-native groups after 1800.
>
> These time frames, and the use of protohistry can and should be improved on our new form.  At the consultants meetings for the last two years, we've been told that there is room to make changes on the form.  I've brought this issue up at both of those meetings and have been told that the task force to create and improve the site form haven't found a better alternative word to protohistory.
>
> I've been invited to the next site form task force meeting to discuss this issue further, and I'd like to workshop some ideas with the histarch group.  Personally, when I write and talk about the early and sustained interactions between Indigenous and Euro-Americans in the archaeological record, I use multiple terms together including protohistory, contact, and historical Indigenous.  When talking about this issue with a friend, she suggested contact period as an alternative to protohistory.  Does anyone have any other suggestions?  Or for that matter suggested reading?
>
> https://heritage.utah.gov/history/archaeology-site-form-release
>
> Thanks so much for your time,
>
> --
> Hannah Russell, RPA
> Cottonwood Archaeology, LLC
> [log in to unmask]
> (435) 210-0414
>
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