Archaeologists Have a Lot of Dates Wrong for North American Indigenous History — But Are Using New Techniques to Get It Right

Modern dating techniques are providing new time frames for indigenous settlements in Northeast North America, free from the Eurocentric bias that previously led to incorrect assumptions.

By Sturt Manning, Cornell University
May 1, 2020 5:00 PMMay 1, 2020 6:49 PM
John White native american art -CC BY-NC-SA
(Credit: John White, circa 1585-1593/The Trustees of the British Museum)

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Columbus famously reached the Americas in 1492. Other Europeans had made the journey before, but the century from then until 1609 marks the creation of the modern globalized world.

This period brought extraordinary riches to Europe, and genocide and disease to indigenous peoples across the Americas.

(Credit: Sturt Manning/The Conversation)

The European settlement dates and personalities are known from texts and sometimes illustrations, to use the failed colony on what was then Virginia’s Roanoke Island as an example.

But one thing is missing. What about indigenous history throughout this traumatic era? Until now, the standard timeline has derived, inevitably, from the European conquerors, even when scholars try to present an indigenous perspective.

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