From the fields to the archives : an intellectual history of the archaeological and anthropological theories and methods leading to wartime applications in the Handbook of South American Indians

Abstract

This investigation can be characterized as an approach towards the history of American anthropological theory from 1939 to 1945. Based on a reliable source based, this wartime intellectual history was examined through the development of archaeology and anthropology, until the 19th century both being independent sciences in the United States, defined its practice during the 20th century, and examined through a key publication for representative theoretical content. The investigation revealed that although by World War II the practice of American anthropology displayed a theoretical affinity to its Boasian sources, the presence of divergent intellectual postures suggest that it was not as it's generally believed. This supported the conclusion that the slightly heterogeneous quality held by wartime American anthropology accounts for active historical change processes in theory and practice far from over by 1945