Traditional Knowledge, Archaeological Evidence, and Other Ways of Knowing George Nicholas and Nola Markey
This chapter explores the nature of knowledge of the past by examining the question of what and is not considered “evidence.” from the perspective of archaeological and Indigenous ways of knowing. We present a series of examples that range from congruence to contradiction and rejection of either archaeological data or oral histories as evidence? We argue that the tension that exists at the intersection of different ways of knowing provides an opportunity to evaluate archaeologically derived evidence, and to strengthen archaeological inferences, while also generating new questions that can inform our understanding of both past lifeways and contemporary heritage concerns.
