The "soft sciences" are harder (more difficult) to do than the "hard" sciences in many ways.
Less evidence just laying about just waiting to be tested (archaeology, ancient history), non-deterministic subjects (humans), not easily reproducible environments (society). Quantum mechanics has it easy in comparison.
Is it any surprise that the consensus goes back and form a few times.
Even when the hard scientists have something 'simple' to study like the deterministic, macro-scale universe they still get it wrong: how long was the Big Bang Theory not taking seriously?
Just because its difficult doesn't mean we should take speculation and guesses as scientific fact. It's okay to say "we don't know, we'll probably never know for sure".
Especially because the stakes are so much lower. Ancient Carthage really does not matter. The ancient world is full of compelling stories, but ultimately they are just that. Whether Carthaginians sacrificed babies does not matter to the modern world at all.
The "soft sciences" are harder (more difficult) to do than the "hard" sciences in many ways.
Less evidence just laying about just waiting to be tested (archaeology, ancient history), non-deterministic subjects (humans), not easily reproducible environments (society). Quantum mechanics has it easy in comparison.
Is it any surprise that the consensus goes back and form a few times.
Even when the hard scientists have something 'simple' to study like the deterministic, macro-scale universe they still get it wrong: how long was the Big Bang Theory not taking seriously?