Hannah-
I’m really glad to hear about this effort. It is a start at breaking down that Prehistory/Natural History vs. history problem in Utah.
I wonder about the term “Ethnohistoric period.” Given the interplay of oral history, ethnography, archival documents, archaeology, and material culture analysis, I wonder if Ethnohistoric period wouldn’t capture the interdependence of those different research modes for the period?

Colonial era would work also, but it places the emphasis on the spread of colonial power instead of the idea of indigenous history.

Some may not like the baggage of Ethnohistory and studies of ethnicity, however, or the associations with folklore.

I look forward to the discussion!
Best,
Tim Scarlett
Michigan Tech


> On Mar 22, 2018, at 9:52 AM, Speal, Charles S <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> Some people out East use the terms pre-Colonial and Colonial to get past this issue. I would agree that Contact Period is preferable to "Proto-historic" as the latter still implies 'just learning to use history'.
> 
> 
> C. Scott Speal
> National Register Specialist, Archaeology
> 
> Office of Environmental Planning 
> Connecticut Department of Transportation 
> 2800 Berlin Turnpike
> Newington, CT 06131 
> Phone: 860-594-2918
> Fax: 860-594-3028
> [log in to unmask]
> 
> 
> 
> -----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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