The Last Sixty Years: Toward a Social History of Americanist Archeology in the United States

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of the development of Americanist archeology in the UnitedStates. Since the 192Os, there have been two, and sometimes more, interpretive communities among Americanist archeologists in the United States. These reflect and are related to the development of U S . society. One articulates the concerns of national capital and its allies; the other, the interests of international capital and its allies. They are grounded in diflerent theoretical traditionr. The discourses produced by their proponents resonate with particular world views that ref l c t diflerent relations to power.

New world complex societies: Recent economic, social, and political studies

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The History of Archaeology as Seen Through the Externalism-Internalism Debate: Historical Development and Current Challenges

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