Stamp-collecting or increasing understanding? The Dilemma of Historical Archaeology

The following is the text of a paper that was presented at the Australian Society for Historical Archaeology First Conference on Historical Archaeology, held in Sydney on 29-30 October 1981. In this paper Graham Connah of the Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, University of New England, identifies what he regards as a dilemma presently facing Australian historical archaeology. On the one hand, there is an urgent need for historical archaeologists to record rapidly vanishing data; and on the other hand, there is the necessity for historical archaeologists to problem-orient their research if it is really to increase our overall understanding of Australian history. In an attempt to come to terms with this problem, the writer reviews his own contributions to Australian historical archaeology and assesses the extent to which he has been able to compromise in the face of this dilemma.