in the Old Crow region of the Yukon and in other studies, no satisfactory resolution of this problem has been achieved.

As chronologies for more recent periods were better understood, archaeologists began to seek a more detailed understanding of the factors that accounted for change over time. In some fields, such as the study of Iroquoian prehistory, where Canadian archaeologists initiated extensive site surveys and began to excavate entire habitation sites, both the scale and the quality of archaeological research came to surpass what was being done in adjacent parts of the United States.

A survey carried out by Roy Carlson in 1973 indicated that the most widely shared interest of archaeologists working in Canada was the study of cultural history, and an analysis of the Canadian Journal of Archaeology reveals that 67 percent of the articles published in that journal between 1988 and 1992 dealt with culture history while about 40 percent exhibited an interest in ecology. The preoccupation with recovering primary data and building cultural chronologies tended to insulate Canadian archaeology from the impact that processual archaeology had in the United States during the 1960s. Most U.S. archaeologists who found employment in Canada and Canadians who had studied in the United States had received their training prior to the rise of processual archaeology, and some were inclined to be hostile or indifferent to the new movement; others embraced it.

In general, however, the demands of archaeological research in Canada and the agenda set by the National Museum tended to dilute the impact of the movement. Many Canadian archaeologists became genuinely interested in the ecological approaches advocated by processual archaeology, but most of them rejected its antihistoricism, extreme positivism, and privileging of a deductive methodology. This espousal of an eclectic, middle-of-the-road approach appears to have been more than a result of the late development of archaeological research in Canada or of the proverbial Canadian penchant for compromise. Theorists such as Gordon Lowther, Alison Wylie, Marsha Hanen, Jane Kelley, and Bruce Trigger have formulated philosophical underpinnings for such an approach that involve a blend of relativism and empiricism, which appears to be increasingly marketable abroad as postmodern trends impact on archaeology everywhere.

A major challenge confronting archaeologists working in Canada today is to establish effective working relations with indigenous peoples, who are increasingly determined to control their cultural heritage and securing the legal right to do so. Many native people object on religious grounds to the excavation of burial sites and places where their ancestors lived. Others see archaeology as enhancing an understanding of aboriginal history and culture. The Canadian Archaeological Association is seeking to develop cooperative agreements and principles of conduct to govern relations between archaeologists and the indigenous peoples. On the whole, such discussions have been productive, although it is clear that archaeology is going to have to change to address issues of major concern to aboriginal people. These issues generally relate to the recent past and favor a combination of archaeology, ethnology, and oral history that recent generations of ecologically inclined archaeologists have tended to ignore. A more contentious legal issue is whether public ownership of the archaeological record is vested in the government or belongs to native peoples.

Historical Archaeology

Historical archaeology, which is concerned primarily with sites relating to European settlement in Canada, began in the 1890s when Chazelle relocated the two Jesuit mission sites in southern Ontario. For a long time there was little more than an interest in identifying the locations of buildings and major events associated with the early colonization of eastern Canada. In 1919, the federal government created the Historic Sites and Monuments Board, which commemorated but did not have the power to protect such sites. The first scientific excavation of a historical site was carried out between 1941 and l943 by Kenneth Kidd of the Royal Ontario Museum at the larger and earlier of the Jesuit mission sites that Chazelle had identified. The excavation of this site was completed between