Historical Archaeology as I Saw It: 1935–1970

Abstract

In these modern times, historical archaeology in North America is a recognized and acknowledged specialization or even discipline that can be separated from other types of archaeology. There now exists a Society for Historical Archaeology and there is an expanding literature on the subject in various journal articles, monographs, and books both in Canada and the United States. But it was not at all like this in 1934 when I studied American archaeology at the University of Michigan and thereby became a participant-observer in the development of archaeology, including historical archaeology, from that time to the present. And thus having been associated with certain aspects of historical archaeology for more than forty years and now being regarded by my grandchildren as one who has first-hand knowledge of the “olden days,” it seems fitting to reflect on some of the influences of my boyhood and youth that attracted me to the study of archaeology.

In retrospect, I believe my archaeological goals were basically humanistic rather than scientific. I was using archaeological methods to produce history and sometimes used simple scientific methods toward that end, but the ultimate goal was always history or perhaps ethnographic history. George I. Quimby