François-Marc GAGNON, Ces hommes dits sauvages : L’histoire fascinante d’un préjugé qui remonte aux premiers découvreurs du Canada, Montréal, Libre Expression, 1984. 190 pages, maps, illustrations, $19.95 (paper). An article from journal Culture (Volume 4, Number 2, 1984, pp. 3-94), on Érudit.

The explanatory power of archaeological data is determined by the kind and degree of regularities in socio-cultural phenomena. This paper discusses current anthropological views that are relevant to prehistoric archaeology with respect to four dimensions of freedom or constraint: the role played by rational calculation, the degree of systemic regularity, the relative importance of deterministic foci, and the degree of systemic integration. It is argued that more attention should be paid to this set of problems as part of a broader effort to establish realistic goals for prehistoric archaeology and appropriate methods for achieving them.

Denys DELÂGE, Le pays renversé. Amérindiens et européens en Amérique du nord-est 160-1664. Montréal, Boréal Express, 1985. 424 pages, maps. An article from journal Culture (Volume 6, Number 1, 1986, pp. 3-90), on Érudit.

What is the relevance of the seemingly antithetical views of cultural evolutionism and cultural relativism for the study of native history ? Despite the important role of epidemic diseases in weakening the capacity of native people to oppose early European domination, the technological gap between the two groups of societies, together with associated differences in social organization and values, played a significant role in making European domination possible. Native cultures were not adapted to coping with European ones. Yet the human capacity for rational calculation was not affected by cultural differences. Native people, both as individuals and as groups, displayed no less ingenuity than did Europeans in responding to the challenge of cultural contact. Despite severe deprivation they have gradually articulated the knowledge and sense of direction required to compete for a fairer share of North America’s resources.

Most ethnology collections were made by anthropologists at a time when Native People were believed to be dying out. These collections were intended to allow future generations of anthropologists to study traditional Native cultures. Since then anthropologists have become interested in how Native People currently live. At present Native People are alienated both from the material vestiges of their past that are kept in museums and from anthropology, which remains the study of Native People by EuroCanadians. This alienation can in part be overcome by a program of affirmative action designed to secure employment for Native People as professional anthropologists and museum curators.

Matthew Dennis. Cultivating a Landscape of Peace: Iroquois-European En- counters in Seventeenth-Century America. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1993. Pp. xii + 280. Ian K. Steele. Warpaths: Invasions of North America. Oxford: Oxford Uni- versity Press, 1994. Pp. xiv + 282. What is variously called Native American history, aboriginal history, or now, with increasing reluctance (because the term is rightly viewed as ethno- centric), ethnohistory constitutes the oldest and most highly developed of the minority histories that have transformed the practice of history in recent decades. While the study of Native American history began mainly in anthro- pology in the late 1930s, it has been taken up by growing numbers of his- torians and geographers who have brought their own important skills and in- sights to this enterprise. This research has not only shed light on facets of North American history that were hitherto ignored, but has also demonstra- ted that native peoples were effective and resourceful participants in shaping that history. This, in turn, has vastly and irreversibly transformed the tradi- tional Euro-American understanding of the role played by European colo- nists. Indian history is now recognized as essential for understanding the genera! course of North American history into modern times. It has even been argued that its most important achievement to date has not been what Euro-American scholars have found out about Native American behaviour, but its revealing of some of the profound biases and misunderstandings that have coloured non-native perceptions of native people and helped to shape Euro-American policies toward them (Trigger 1986).

This article was presented as the second annual Distinguished Lecture in Archeology at the 89th annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association, November 30, 1990, in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Tomas Hägg. Nubian culture past and present: main papers presented at the sixth international conference for Nubian studies in Uppsala, 11–16 August 1986. 438 pages, figures. 1987. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell International. Konferenser 17; ISBN 0-8047-1389-8 paperback. $27.50. - Volume 62 Issue 235

Oneota Studies. Guy E. Gibbon, editor. University of Minnesota Publications in Anthropology, No. 1. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 1982. vii + 122 pp., figures, tables, biblio. Paper. - Volume 49 Issue 3

Michael B. Schiffer, ed. Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory. New York: Academic Press. 1978, 1979, 1980. Vol. I: xv+426 pp., $24.50; Vol. II, xii + 340 pp., $28.50; Vol. III, xii + 448 pp., $39.50.

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American AnthropologistVolume 69, Issue 1 p. 94-95 ARCHEOLOGY: Most Ancient Egypt. William C. Hayes. Edited by Keith C. Seele Bruce G. Trigger, Bruce G. Trigger McGill UniversitySearch for more papers by this author Bruce G. Trigger, Bruce G. Trigger McGill UniversitySearch for more papers by this author First published: February 1967 https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.1967.69.1.02a00280AboutPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onEmailFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume69, Issue1February 1967Pages 94-95 RelatedInformation