Ethnohistory, Oral Tradition, and Archaeology: Examples from Oaxaca, Mexico and the Four Corners region of the United States

Summary

Increasingly, archaeologists recognize the value of oral tradition and ethnohistorical records in as sources of regional historical knowledge that can contribute to archaeological interpretation. This paper will combine examples from two regions, the Pueblo area of New Mexico and Colorado and the area of Santa Maria Zacatepec, Oaxaca. The section on the Pueblo area will examine how Pueblo oral migration stories and traditional knowledge have directed archaeological investigations and informed interpretations. The information from Oaxaca will discuss oral indigenous Tacuate migration stories in conjunction with 16th century ethnohistorical histories. Both these examples explore how oral tradition and ethnohistorical sources have the potential to add to our insight of indigenous understandings of the past as well as inform on potential avenues for future archaeological study.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

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