Archeologist-Ethnographer-Informant Relations

The Dynamics of Ethnoarcheology in the Field

Bibliographic Data

ID5947512
AuthorsHetty Jo Brumbach (Albany State University, corresponding author), Robert Jarvenpa (Albany State University)
Year1990
Volume2
Issue1
Pages39-46
Publication date1990-01-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueArcheological Papers of the American Anthropological Association (BOOK_SERIES)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1551-823X • E-ISSN: 1551-8248
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1525/ap3a.1990.2.1.39
OpenAlexW2022178433
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited11

An ethnoarcheological investigation in the Canadian subarctic is used to evaluate the role of native informant-field assistants (Chipewyan, Cree, Metis) in the research process. While many informants provide insightful reflections on the recent historical past, "on-site" informant-assistants offer the most meaningful contributions. The latter help locate archeological residues, accompany researchers to sites during survey and/of excavation, identify artifacts and, most significantly, present their own distinctive conceptions of what the material world represents. These differing conceptions are simultaneously vexing and revealing, giving rise to new dilemmas and questions. Is archeology (or ethnoarcheology) a positivist or interpretive social science? If it is a positivist enterprise, how do we identify this as separate from our personal interpretations of the past? Whose truth or perception of the truth do we embrace? These issues are explored as ethnoarcheologists and their informants struggle for a common understanding of artifacts, features, sites and expressions of ethnicity

Archaeology · Epistemology · Ethnic group · Ethnography · Perception · Positivism · Sociology · Anthropology · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · History · Indigenous Studies and Ecology · Philosophy · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Psychology

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