The Challenges and Benefits of Comparing Archaeological and Oral Records

Summary

Archaeologists have referenced the oral record throughout the history of their research in Tsimshian territory. In this paper we frame our recent collaboration against this legacy and argue that that a symmetrical relationship is a necessary foundation for any conjunction between these complex datasets. Our collaboration recognizes the common history they represent, but also their different logical frameworks and empirical scope. In our context, the oral record was more complete, detailed, and comprehensive than the archaeological view of history. Thus, our first impulse toward history has come from indigenous sources, which subsequently framed our archaeological research questions. Our point of greatest overlap has been the macro-history of large-scale events, a subject covered extensively in the oral record and accessible via a regional view of archaeological data. We have consistently found that the oral and archaeological records conjoin when considered in this approach.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Tsimshian Archaeology: 50 Years of Research and 10,000 years of History

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 16431