Historical archaeology

Historical archeology is a part of the archaeological sciences / archeology. In contrast to prehistoric archeology, it focuses on epochs with so-called " dense tradition ", especially written sources. The parallel tradition of substantive archaeological evidence and written tradition is the methodological criterion for Historical Archaeology. The Historical Archaeology uses the same source and range of methods such as the Pre-and Early History / Prehistoric Archaeology. It consists, however, with other kinds of sources ( written sources, image sources, oral history ) apart and relates their specific methods with a.

Temporal and substantive boundaries

The term is used in the most varied traditions of archaeological subjects still different. This also applies to the German-speaking countries.

• Historical archeology refers to the archeology of cultures that have written personal testimonies or the focus of this stand ( Andren 1998);
• Historical archeology refers to the period from about 1500 to the present, particularly in North America and Europe ( Gaimster 2009).
• Historical archeology is a generic term for the Archaeology of the Middle Ages and modern times in Europe ( Frommer 2007; morning et al 2009);

According to the understanding of A. Andrén (1998), there are completely different absolute temporal starting points for historical archeology, which ultimately correspond to the occurrence of scripture leading cultures worldwide. It is important to distinguish between phases and regions in which the written and pictorial sources predominantly a cutout adhere view offer (eg the early history ) and phases with dense source tradition, reflecting generally an internal view of the culture being studied. According to the understanding of A. Andrén the historical archeology includes very different archaeologies as the Alt - American studies, classical archeology or medieval archeology. His approach is to name - phenomenological methodology and aims to structural features.

( 1967 SPMA ) In the Anglo-American world ( Gaimster 2009) the concept appears particularly with the founding of the Society of Historical Archaeology (SHA; ; 1967) and the Australian Society of Historical Archaeology ( ASHA 1970) on the one hand and the Society of Post -Medieval Archaeology on the other hand. While for the SHA and ASHA contacts between Europe and the "New World " as well as New Zealand and the Asia - Pacific region, particularly at the time of colonization played an important role in the SPMA first put their focus in the period 1500-1750 and the start of the Industrial Revolution. In recent times ( Gaimster 2009) these temporal boundaries are almost resolved and the work area will be expanded to the present day. ( Buchli / Lucas 2001; Holtorf 2009) In order for the connection to the " Contemporary archeology" is made.

Resulting from the definition of A. Andren demarcation problems, especially compared to the classical archeology have meant that finally understood Historical Archaeology and the time of the Middle Ages and modern times (in Europe) (Müller 2008;. Mogren et al 2009).

In comparison it can be said that the substantive and methodological version of the global framework purports by A. Andren, what is historical archeology and thus represent the two remaining boundaries of " special cases ". Focused on the global scene "Historical Archaeology " ultimately on the comparability of structures and processes ( morning et al 2009) and is not " Euro-centric " stretto.

Germany

In German-speaking countries, the term sets by only slowly. It is most often equated with Modern archeology. Organizations such as the " German Society for Archaeology of the Middle Ages and modern times ", but also chairs like those seen in Bamberg, hall or Tübingen archeology of the modern era, first as an expansion of the Medieval Archaeology. Was taken up the concept of "historical archeology " in Tübingen as a generic term for the Archaeology of the Middle Ages and modern times in total. Mostly, however, is the early modern period, the 16th and 18th centuries, in the foreground. A contemporary historical archeology, which carries into archaeological methods and questions to the late 20th and 21st century, is more common in German-speaking only since the 1990s. In addition to university departments - especially in Vienna and Innsbruck - and projects of archaeological heritage (for example, in North Rhine -Westphalia and Berlin -Brandenburg ) contemporary historical topics are mainly on the agenda of art and architectural conservation. The reasons for these separations and the hesitant reception of the term "Historical Archaeology " are diverse. You are not least due to the historically developed division of archaeological monuments and architectural and art monuments. This also results in a more in epochs ( medieval / modern times) because of structural features oriented terminology.

While primarily in the 1980s, an extensive discussion on the concept and understanding of medieval archeology was conducted in the German language, such considerations to modern times have just been hired quite late. In addition to minor contributions from Ingolf Ericsson ( 1995, 2002), R. Schreg set (2007) with the modern era archeology apart. While both define the modern era archeology as a discipline, has S. Frommer (2007) conducted a methodological and substantive discussion with the term "Historical Archaeology ", which can also be understood as an attempt at differentiation from prehistoric archeology. So far, a lack of clear temporal, spatial and contextual definitions of the term "Historical Archaeology " in German archeology. Thus, the term is also frequently used in a pragmatic sense. It does seek to avoid complicated constructs such as prehistoric archeology and archeology of the early Middle Ages, Medieval Archaeology ( medieval archeology ) and the modern era. Also in terms of a holistic understanding of archeology can historical archeology be used for archaeological sub-disciplines such as industrial archeology, Garden Archaeology ( historic gardens ), use the " battlefield archeology " or the " execution site archeology " same or similar methods, questions and sources.

Historical Archaeology

The Historical Archaeology in the English speaking world is different from the previously little profiled German research especially in their understanding of history and the methodology of source synthesis (see Schreg 2007). In the American Historical Archaeology, the influences of the theoretical discussion are easily visible. From Processual Archaeology of the approach that the Historical Archaeology next Ethnoarchaeology and experimental archeology could contribute significantly to the archaeological methods development comes. The Postprocessual Archaeology has V.A. lifted out the reference to the actors and recipients of research. Was representative here the discussion about the perspective of African Americans called, which was initially largely forgotten in a Europe -centered perspective.