The Awakening of Internalist Archaeology in the Aboriginal World

Bibliographic Data

ID20061002
AuthorsEldon Yellowhorn (corresponding author)
Year2006
Pages194-209
Publication date2006-08-24
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeCHAPTER
VenueArchaeology of Bruce Trigger (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherMcGill-Queen's University Press (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1515/9780773575776-016
OpenAlexW3127443394
ISBN9780773575776
LanguageEN
Citations received25

This thesis is one step in defining the parameters of archaeology in an aboriginal context. It is designed to be a practical guide for imagining the past from an internalist perspective because archaeological methods offer the opportunity to represent antiquity that is simultaneously rational and familiar. However, an ancillary objective is to utilize symbols from antiquity as markers of modern Indian identity. Archaeology appeared on the radar of First Nations because their growing populations demand housing and economic opportunities. Recent settlement of land claims has brought large tracts of land under the control of Native people. Archaeological sites, by their very nature, are defined by their geographical location. Artifacts and sites are the products of past human labour and as such are a unique cultural legacy that must be understood within the context of a generalized world history. Internalist archaeology mediates between a local understanding of antiquity and the ancient history of humanity on a global scale. It is a product of the dialogue that began when the world system intruded on the local experience of aboriginal people. Modern prehistory was accessible only by employing archaeological methods and traditional history, as related in story, was relegated to the margins along with its authors. Myths were discounted as plausible sources of explanation for antiquity as archaeologists constructed their theories to explain the data they accumulated during their excavations. Internalist archaeology is an analytical tool that will play a prominent role in rehabilitating oral narratives by deploying methods to search for the signatures they would leave in the archaeological record. It is also a means to examine folklore so as to discover the messages that are encoded in myths. Myths act as mediating devices which connect the high levels of abstraction, those informing the traditional worldview, with lower levels of abstractions, as represented by customs. Ecological messages are encrypted in narratives which are then transmitted between generations. Each generation must decypher the meaning embedded in a myth to benefit from it. For internalist archaeology, mythology is a reservoir of explanation that has been ignored by mainstream research but which can be the basis for this brand of archaeological research. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Archaeology · Epistemology · Geography · Internalism and externalism · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies · Historical and Cultural Archaeology Studies · History · Philosophy

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Open DOILibgenOpen Access