What is the difference between historic and prehistoric archaeology?

Question

What is the difference between historic and prehistoric archaeology?

Answer 1

The difference between Pre-historic and historic anything is...

in the writing!

Answer 2

In America:

Prehistoric = before contact (Christopher Columbus discovers America)

Historic = after contact

Answer 3

historic means what is being gathered and documented now and pre- means gatherings before anything was documented

Answer 4

Pre-historic archaeology refers to archaeology of a site that was occupied prior to there being a written record of the area. Most Native American sites are pre-historic.

historic archaeology is done on a site that has a written record attached to it.

Answer 5

With historic archeology, their is a certian degree of understanding your findings because you are more likely to have documents that explains it. So most of the time, Historic archeology realys on reconstruction. Prehistoric archeology is hard because most of the findings have probably been destroyed. Aswell since less is known about it, it is subjected to interpetation. It also focus on the biological aspects of human such as pre-human remains .