Recognizing and Recording Post-1492 Indigenous Sites in North American Archaeology

This collection contains the abstracts of the papers presented in the session entitled "Recognizing and Recording Post-1492 Indigenous Sites in North American Archaeology," at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Despite long running debate about the implications of the prehistory concept in North American archaeology, most archaeological site recording systems have not kept pace. Categories such as prehistoric, protohistoric, and historic offer streamlined recording practices in the field but nonetheless perpetuate a simplistic and teleological approach to understanding Indigenous life after contact with Euroamericans. Part of the issue is simply one of recognition. Native American groups continued to occupy many sites for decades and centuries after the arrival of Euroamericans, often without substantial materials pointing to contact with outsiders. In other instances, Indigenous sites from the era of mass produced consumer goods may be difficult to distinguish from those of non-Native settlers. Yet even when site occupants and chronologies are well known, many archaeological recording systems force sites into restrictive categories that further hamper regional understanding of Indigenous patterns of residence after 1492. Through case studies spanning North America, papers in this session will address issues related to how archaeologists recognize sites in the field, record them in regional databases, and ultimately interpret them for and with different stakeholders.