It's a real problem, finding a disciplinary tent. Formal training in critical historical research is absolutely essential for anyone who presumes to interpret material remains in their historical context. It would seem that such training would come from a graduate program in history. Unfortunately, most "higher" historical writing is irrelevant to what we do. Academic historians tend to prefer "big picture" subjects of little interest to the likes of us. Budding historical archaeology students should be encouraged to take courses in historical research, preferably with a local history emphasis, or journalism. In either case they would get exposure to critical methods applied to localized study. Students need to understand how to critically read documents. They need to understand how government works, because most of our documentary sources are government documents. Students also should learn to read deed descriptions, estate inventories, and other documentary sources. They need to know how to drag biographies out of a chaos of documents. So far, I have not heard of a history course that provides such training. Ned Heite ([log in to unmask])