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One of the key problems that many scientifically trained academics have with oral tradition involves time. The Euroamerican cultural tradition is based on lineal time which is marked off in discrete increments. Indian cultures, on the other hand, often view time in a very different way: time is seen as cyclical rather than lineal. There is less emphasis in Indian culture and in Indian oral tradition in creating a “time-line” which is marked in off in years, decades, or centuries. Archaeologists Mark Varien, Tito Naranjo, Marjorie Connelly, and William Lipe (1999: 388) write: “Oral tradition differs from the accounts that archaeologists write in its treatment of time and space: archaeology seeks to order knowledge in terms of strict temporal and spatial referents, but those are seldom as important in oral tradition.” Archaeology is the study of the past through the analysis of material culture. By looking at the things people made—artifacts—as well as how they used their space—housing, architecture, village layout, etc—archaeologists can begin to recreate life in the past. Since culture is integrated, an understanding of a culture’s material culture provides some insights into ancient ways of life. Timothy Kohler, George Gummerman, and Robert Reynolds (2005: 77) write: “By examining ruins, artifacts, and remains, archaeologists have painstakingly constructed a series of pictures showing human societies as they existed thousands and even millions of years ago.” Archaeologists Mark Varien, Tito Naranjo, Marjorie Connelly, and William Lipe (1999: 388) write that “the primary goal of the archaeologist is to construct an account that relies on empirical evidence to identify past events or patterns, and that arranges these events or patterns in spatial and temporal order, usually with some kind of accompanying interpretive narrative that connects the elements.” Settlement patterns show how people interacted with their environment. Sites—places used and/or occupied by people—may show that they used an area on a seasonal basis, such as a hunting camp or a gathering area, or that it was used throughout the year. The remains of plants and animals at a site—called ecofacts by archaeologists—show us the kinds of things that people ate: the kinds of animals they hunted and the kinds of plant foods that they collected or raised. One of the characteristics of American archaeology is a focus on dating. With a variety of scientific methods, including stratigraphy, radiocarbon dating, dendrochronology, and obsidian hydration, archaeologists attempt to find out how old things are. Contrasting archaeology’s concern for an accurate time frame and geographic areas with oral tradition, archaeologists Mark Varien, Tito Naranjo, Marjorie Connelly, and William Lipe (1999: 388) write: “Oral tradition differs from the accounts that archaeologists write in its treatment of time and space: archaeology seeks to order knowledge in terms of strict temporal and spatial referents, but those are seldom as important in oral tradition.” In contrast to the academic discipline of history—that is, understanding the past through written documents—Timothy Kohler, George Gummerman, and Robert Reynolds (2005: 77) write: “Only a small fraction of human history is known through texts. For the rest, archaeology is the main source.” Archaeologists Philip Duke and Gary Matlock (1999: 17) point out that archaeology is also used to fill in some of the gaps left by history. They write “…history tends to study the rich and famous whereas historical archaeology looks at everybody else.”
Physical anthropology studies the human body. By studying the remains of our ancestors, physical anthropologists can allow our ancestors to speak to us, to tell us about their lives. Archaeologist Kent Lightfoot (2006: 22) writes: “Human burials provide important lines of evidence for understanding disease, diet, working conditions, and population demograhics.” Bones are the most common item that physical anthropologists study. Archaeologist James Chatters (2001: 19) talks about what the bones can tell us: “Old or recent, intact or deteriorated nearly beyond recognition, bones always have a story to tell. They chronicle early growth, life experience, death, and even what has happened to the body after death. Muscle ridges, wear and tear—arthritis, bone growth along ligaments and tendons, and fractures—record patterns of physical activity. Diseases and injury leave their mark in patterns of bone dissolution, atrophy, regrowth, and overgrowth.” Bones can tell us about life experiences. According to Chatters (2001: 127): “As bones and teeth grow, their development can be temporarily interrupted or slowed by ill health and poor diet, both of which retard the flow of nutrients to growing hard tissues. In the teeth these interruptions show up as narrow horizontal grooves across the enamel called hypoplasias. Because tooth development is closely correlated with a child’s age, it is possible to measure a hypoplasia’s position on the tooth crown and use this to estimate the age at which a nutritional insult occurred.” Bones can tell us about the kinds of diets that our ancestors had. The tissues of all living things contain stable isotopes of elements such as carbon and nitrogen, and by measuring the amounts of these elements in bone, the physical anthropologists can reconstruct ancient diets. Bones can also tell us about the kinds of physical activity that people engaged in and about the kinds of illness that they had. These things help us understand the lives of our ancestors. In addition to bones, physical anthropologists also study DNA. At one time, some people thought that all Indian people were genetically similar, that perhaps they were descended from a single band of hunters. The DNA evidence shows that this is wrong: there is a great deal of genetic diversity among Indian people, and furthermore, this diversity indicates that they have lived on this continent for a very long time.
Language can also provide us with some insights into the past. First of all, linguists—people who scientifically study languages—group languages into families. Language families are groups of languages which are historically related to each other and which share a common language ancestry. This similarity is seen not only is the similarity in words, but also in the grammatical structure of the language. By looking at the geographic distribution of the languages in a language family, we can gain some insights into migration patterns. Thus, for example, we see that the Algonquian languages are dominate the Northeast, but are found from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean. This shows an association of these people and such possibilities for migrations. The study of Native American vocabulary can also suggest some migrations. This includes words for physical features, for geography, and for artifacts which may be associated with other areas.
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