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The Effect of the Direct Historical Approach on the Development of Theory in Plains Archaeology: A Comment on Mitchell's Analysis of the MBP Legacy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Donna C. Roper
Donna C. Roper*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology/Anthropology/Social Work, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas 66506 (droper@ksu.edu)
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Abstract

Mark Mitchell's analysis of the legacy of the Missouri Basin Project (MBP) identified the direct historical approach as one discourse that shaped the MBP legacy. While that identification is certainly correct, the discussion is too limited in two ways. First, the use of the direct historical approach for tracing ethnicity was more limited than is generally recognized. Second, and more seriously, the rich documentary and ethnographic record of the Plains Village lifeway became a too readily used source of specific analogies for reading the archaeological record. Theory became irrelevant. Some of the numerous inaccuracies this produced are only recently being corrected.

Résumé

Résumé

El análisis de Mark Mitchell del legado del Missouri Basin Project (MBP) identificó el “Enfoque Historico Directo” (Direct Historical Approach o dha) como un discurso que fomentó el legado del MBP. Aunque esa identificación es correcta, la disertación es demasiado limitada en dos maneras. Primero, el uso de dha para determinar etnicidad era más limitado de lo que se reconoce. Segundo, y más importante, el registro profundo documental y etnográfico de la cultura Plains Village se convirtió en una fuente de uso frecuente para producir analogías específicas para leer el registro arqueológico. La teoría se hizo irrelevante. Algunas de las abundantes inexactitudes producidas por eso están siendo corregidas solo recientemente.

Type
Comments
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 72 , Issue 4 , October 2007 , pp. 785 - 788
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 2007

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