Ethnoarchaeology as a Merging of Historical Archaeology and Oral History

Abstract

Within the past decade, historical archaeology and oral history often have been merged into a unified field of study. Increasingly, historical archaeologists include oral historians as integral members of a research team. The history of this movement is examined in relation to research objectives and theoretical issues. Several case studies present different applications of the two approaches and how they have merged synergistically to produce a better understanding of the past.