Direct historical approach

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The direct historical approach was an archaeological and anthropological technique developed and promoted by such American scholars as William Duncan Strong, Waldo Wedel, and others during the 1920s and 1930s.^[1]

Proponents of the methodology argued that one could extrapolate backwards in time from known historical periods into prehistory. By studying a site with known historical occupations and then excavating it to establish prehistoric activity, it was reasoned that by using analogy and homology based on the historical data, theories could be postulated about the past society that had used the site long before the historical records were made.^{[citation needed]}

The approach works well where continuity can be demonstrated but is less useful in regions where significant differences between prehistoric and historic societies are known.^{[citation needed]}

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