Question

Why were the American archaeologists of the first half of the twentieth century primarily interested in culture history? What’s meant by a historical explanation of events? How is this different from a scientific explanation, or is it? What was Hannah’s point when she quotes Indiana Jones:"If you want the truth, try the Philosophy Department."?

Answer 1

Explanation:

The kind of archaeology that was practiced mainly by the American archaeologist in the early to mid-twentieth century is to explore the culture history. The culture history "explains" the differences or the changes over time in the frequencies of the artifacts by postulating the diffusion of several ideas between the nearby cultures or the migration of the people who had different beliefs and mental templates for the artifact styles.

It is different from scientific explanation as scientific explanation of new archaeology needs to be more  scientific and more anthropological. All the hypothesis should be tested.

Hannah meant by saying that to know the truth we should look at the Philosophy Department is that you will get all your answer to the question in the philosophy department.