THE ROLE OF THE SOUTHEAST IN AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY

Regional archaeologies have exerted variable influence on the course of development of American archaeology as a whole. The role of southeastern archaeology is explored here. While physical characteristicsl of the region have certainly played a role in the particular course taken by southeastern archaeology, the role of the Southeast in debates focused on the "big questions" of archaeology has been quite modest. Its contribution to the intellectual developmnet of the discipline has been substantial, however, particularly in the 1930s through the 1950s. The Southeast played a key role in the professionalization of archaeology and in the establishment of the Culture Historical paradigm. Since then, its role has diminished and it played virtually no part in the establishment of the New Archaeology. By the same token it has avoided the reactionary Postprocessualism of the 1980s and is thus well positioned to once again play an important role in American archaeology as a whole.