The Swiss Family Robinson Model: A Comment and Appraisal

In their paper, The Swiss Family Robinson and the archaeology of colonisations, in Volume 1 of this journal, Birmingham and Jeans advocate adoption by Australian historical archaeologists of the American hypothetico-deductive method for investigating historic sites and propose a model of colonisation and development from which hypotheses can be drawn. In this paper by Damaris Bairstow, of Newcastle, NSW, it is maintained that historical archaeology is fundamentally inductive, that the archaeologist must first contend with the data from his or her site and reason from it to general theory. Although, therefore, the Swiss Family Robinson model may provide a framework for the history of colonisation and development, it is doubtful whether it or any model can be used to supply any valid hypothesis from which to deduce archaeological evidence.