Converging or Contradictory Ways of Knowing: Assessing the Scientific Nature of Traditional Knowledge in Archaeological Contexts

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Braiding Knowledge: Opportunities and Challenges for Collaborative Approaches to Archaeological Heritage and Conservation" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Traditional knowledge (TK) has become a familiar element of ethnobiology and anthropology but only recently has it gained the attention of the "harder" sciences (e.g., archaeology, biology, climatology). However, many archaeologists have an uneasy alliance with TK and Indigenous oral histories. On the one hand, these sources are valued when they support or supplement archaeological evidence, but when the situation is reversed and TK challenges scientific or historical "truths," then its utility is questioned. I discuss examples of convergence and contradiction between archaeological and Indigenous Knowledge systems. I then argue that engagement with Indigenous knowledge can actually improve archaeological endeavors in two ways: 1) a commitment to objectivity requires that we increase diversity of ideas we explore; and 2) alternative explanations of observed phenomena can push us toward unanticipated insights.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)   •
• Braiding Knowledge: Opportunities and Challenges for Collaborative Approaches to Archaeological Heritage and Conservation

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24534