The Positioning of Archaeology within Anthropology: A Canadian Historical Perspective

Abstract

In this paper we argue that archaeologists and anthropologists should be aware of forces that encourage the separation of archaeology from anthropology. Sociological, organizational, and intellectual factors that do not necessarily have disciplinary separation as their logical consequence can nonetheless have a cumulative effect that moves the relationship between the subfields of anthropology in the direction of greater or lesser independence. We compare the relative strength of certain factors that could either encourage or discourage the perpetuation of four-field anthropology in Canada and the United States.