Book Review Selection Forms
Due in Section Week of April 12
• Read Information on Book Review
assignment in Appendix 1 of the Workbook
• Browse books at Bookstore and at McHenry
Library.
• Choose 3 books that you would be
interested in reading for this assignment.
• Remember: Not everyone will get their first
choice.
Judith A. Habicht-Mauche, UCSC, Spring 2005
Realization of the Antiquity of the
Human Species
• Association of Stone Tools w/
Extinct Fauna
• Discovery of pre-modern human
fossils (Neanderthal, Germany)
Thomas Huxley-- “The Missing
Link”
Whole of Human history can not be
accounted for by Biblical time scale--The
Idea of “Prehistory”.
Stratigraphic section from Abbeville, France
Judith A. Habicht-Mauche, UCSC, Spring 2005
Sommes Gravels, Near Abbeville
France
Excavated by
Jacques Boucher
des Perthes,
French Customs
Inspector
“antediluvian axes...”
Judith A. Habicht-Mauche, UCSC, Spring 2005
A Test of Human Antiquity:
British Royal Society (1859)
Creates Commission of Experts*
Check B de P’s French evidence
Dig a site with undisturbed
stratigraphy
*antiquarians & geologists, including Charles Lyell
Judith A. Habicht-Mauche, UCSC, Spring 2005
Test of Human Antiquity at Abbeville
1859
• Boucher des Perthes’ claims verified
stratigraphically by British Royal Society
knives hatchets of flint
Judith A. Habicht-Mauche, UCSC, Spring 2005
Brixham Cave, Windmill Hill, England
Brixham Cave
Chosen for excavation: stalagmite layer
sealed underlying archaeological deposits
Judith A. Habicht-Mauche, UCSC, Spring 2005
Brixham Cave Test: Relevant
Evidence & Their Meanings
• Stone artifacts = human handiwork
• Fossil bones = extinct Ice Age species = Ice Age
date
• Stratigraphic order = time sequence
• Association in 1 stratum = contemporary
• A long span of human “pre-history” widely accepted
by scholars
Judith A. Habicht-Mauche, UCSC, Spring 2005
Unit 2, Lecture 1
North American Archaeology
and the Native American Past
Judith A. Habicht-Mauche, UCSC, Spring 2003
Myth of the Moundbuilders
• Jefferson (1797) Notes on Virginia--first
stratigraphic excavation in North America
• Squier and Davis (1848) Ancient
Monuments of the Mississippi
• Cyrus Thomas (1894) 12th Annual Report
of the Bureau of American Ethnography
Judith A. Habicht-Mauche, UCSC, Spring 2005
Why a Mythical Race of Moundbuiders?
• Lack of Historical Context--modern Indians
not building mounds
• Nationalist Motives--Americans seeking an
ancient past in New World
• Racist/Political Motives--Americans
seeking justification for “Manifest Destiny.”
Judith A. Habicht-Mauche, UCSC, Spring 2005
Impact of Moundbuilder Controversy on
North American Archaeology
• “Antiquities” of North America are
associated with the ancestors of the modern
Native Americans.
• As such, have little relevance to National
Heritage, largely defined in AngloAmerican terms
• Archaeology in North America is part of
Anthropology--the study of the “primitive”
and the “other”.
Judith A. Habicht-Mauche, UCSC, Spring 2005
Discovery of New World “Prehistory”
• Native Americans only thought to be in New
World for short time (Culture History)
• 1927--Folsom, NM--stone spear point found in
association with bones of extinct ice-age bison
• America has truly ancient past comparable to Old
World
• New World laboratory for comparative study of
major trends in social development and evolution
(Processual Archaeology)
Judith A. Habicht-Mauche, UCSC, Spring 2005
Native American Repatriation
Movement
• 1960s-70s--Increased Native American
Activism
• 1970s-80s--Public debates over treatment
and deposition of Native American remains
• 1990--Native American Graves Protection
and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA)
Judith A. Habicht-Mauche, UCSC, Spring 2005
NAGPRA
• Protects Indian remains on federal and tribal lands
• Recognizes tribal authority over treatment of
human remains
• Prohibits commercial selling of Indian remains
• Requires institutions to inventory and repatriate
human remains, associated grave goods, sacred
objects and “objects of cultural patrimony” to
tribal groups that can demonstrate “cultural
affiliation”
Judith A. Habicht-Mauche, UCSC, Spring 2005
Archaeology after NAGPRA
• Native Americans placed on more equal footing
with scientists, museums and universities in
determining treatment of human remains and
cultural artifacts
• Ushered in new era of consultation, cooperation,
negotiation between archaeologists and tribal
groups
• Made archaeologists more aware of the political
context and consequences of their research (PostProcessual Critique)
Judith A. Habicht-Mauche, UCSC, Spring 2005
And then there was Kennewick…
• Scientists argued that Kennewick should
not be repatriated under NAGPRA
because:
• May not be “Native American”
• Too old to demonstrate “cultural affiliation”
• Congress did not intend NAGPRA to apply
to remains this old (9000 years)
• Remains of significant scientific value to
“the government”, i.e. ALL the people of
the U.S.
Judith A. Habicht-Mauche, UCSC, Spring 2005
August 2002
• Judge found in favor plaintiffs (scientists)
• Remains did not fall under definition of Native
American as defined by NAGPRA
• Scientific study required to determine “cultural
affiliation”
• Protected by ARPA--of significant value to ALL
Americans; part of our common National
Heritage
Judith A. Habicht-Mauche, UCSC, Spring 2005
The “Moundbuilders” Redux
• The Kennewick Case:
• Challenges a central premise of North
American archaeology: that the ancient remains
of this continent belong exclusively to the
ancestors of the modern Native Americans
Who owns America’s Past? Who should write its
history? Whose voices and values should be
given precedence in these debates?
Judith A. Habicht-Mauche, UCSC, Spring 2005
Kennewick Man Debate
• For Section Next Week: Be prepared to
argue Kennewick Case from perspective of
either The Plaintiff (Scientists) or The
Defendants (Local NA, US Gov)
• To prepare your “Brief” consult the
following Web Sites:
http://www.kennewick-man.com/
http://www.friendsofpast.org/
http://umatilla.nsn.us/ancient.html
Judith A. Habicht-Mauche, UCSC, Spring 2005