An epistemological enquiry into some archaeological and historical interpretations of 17th century Native American-European relations

A spectre is haunting archaeology. This spectre is the claim made by some New Archaeologists that the past can be objectively knowable. Dissatisfaction with such claims, and the concordant methods and goals of the New Archaeology, have led some investigators to re-examine the epistemological basis for our understanding of the past (for example, Hodder 1985). Explicit recognition of the relationship between archaeological or historical interpretations and their sociocultural contexts provides a point of departure to construct a critique of objectivism (see Wylie 1985, Ch. 5, this volume). In the course of the critique I will show that ‘objective’ interpretations of the archaeological record are ideologically charged while serving to empower those with access to the record.