[chongli]

You’d have to ask a historian. My sister did a master’s degree in archaeology and this is what she told me. Opinions may still differ and I’m sure some historians still operate under the religious connotation. The history of academia is inextricably linked with the church (universities were originally built to educate the clergy) and many schools still carry religious charters.

Unfortunately, social sciences don’t use mathematically rigorous definitions the way “hard sciences” do, even as they begin to adopt more rigour in their practices (statistical methods, radiometric dating).