Mary C. Beaudry mines archaeological findings of sewing and needlework to discover what these small traces of female experience reveal about the societies and cultures in which they were used. Beaudry's geographical and chronological scope is broad: she examines sites in the United States and Great Britain, as well as Australia and Canada, and she ranges from the Middle Ages through the Industrial Revolution.The author describes the social and cultural significance of "findings" pins, needles, thimbles, scissors, and other sewing accessories and tools. Through the fascinating stories that...

A glance at the title of this book might well beg the question "What in heaven's name does archaeology have to do with manners? We cannot dig up manners or mannerly behavior-or can we?" One might also ask "Why is mannerly behavior important?" and "What can archaeology contribute to our understanding of the role of manners in the devel- ment of social relations and cultural identity in early America?" English colonists in America and elsewhere sought to replicate English notions of gentility and social structure, but of necessity div- ged from the English model. The first generation of elites...

Designed to appeal to a broad spectrum of archaeologists and historians, Documentary Archaeology in the New World outlines a fresh approach to the archaeological study of the historic cultures of North America that places history alongside anthropology, cultural geography, and a whole range of cognate disciplines. The authors' common belief is that historical archaeologists must develop their own frameworks for interpretation through exhaustive documentary research rather than simply borrow models from colleagues working in the prehistoric past. Specific topics examined include urban...

The Cambridge Companion to Historical Archaeology provides an overview of the international field of historical archaeology (c.AD 1500 to the present) through seventeen specially-commissioned essays from leading researchers in the field. The volume explores key themes in historical archaeology including documentary archaeology, the writing of historical archaeology, colonialism, capitalism, industrial archaeology, maritime archaeology, cultural resource management and urban archaeology. Three special sections explore the distinctive contributions of material culture studies, landscape...

A glance at the title of this book might well beg the question "What in heaven's name does archaeology have to do with manners? We cannot dig up manners or mannerly behavior--or can we?" One might also ask "Why is mannerly behavior important?" and "What can archaeology contribute to our understanding of the role of manners in the devel- ment of social relations and cultural identity in early America?" English colonists in America and elsewhere sought to replicate English notions of gentility and social structure, but of necessity div- ged from the English model. The first generation of elites...

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This collection of essays in Archaeologies of Mobility and Movement draws inspiration from current archaeological interest in the movement of individuals, things, and ideas in the recent past. Movement is fundamentally concerned with the relationship(s) among time, object, person, and space. The volume argues that understanding movement in the past requires a shift away from traditional, fieldwork-based archaeological ontologies towards fluid, trajectory-based studies. Archaeology, by its very nature, locates objects frozen in space (literally in their...

This volume is based on a session at a 2005 Society for Historical Archaeology meeting. The organizers assembled historical archaeologists from the UK and the US, whose work arises out of differing intellectual traditions. The authors exchange ideas about what their colleagues have written, and construct dialogues about theories and practices that inform interpretive archaeology on either side of the Atlantic, ending with commentary by two well-known names in interpretive archaeology.

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This collection of essays in Archaeologies of Mobility and Movement draws inspiration from current archaeological interest in the movement of individuals, things, and ideas in the recent past. Movement is fundamentally concerned with the relationship(s) among time, object, person, and space. The volume argues that understanding movement in the past requires a shift away from traditional, fieldwork-based archaeological ontologies towards fluid, trajectory-based studies. Archaeology, by its very nature, locates objects frozen in space (literally in their...

Thought-provoking and engaging, Beyond the Walls provides new and relevant theoretical perspectives and specific case studies for archaeologists conducting research related to household archaeology. Essential for both students and professionals. Mark D. Groover, author of The Archaeology of North American Farmsteads
From ranching stations in Hawai i to slave quarters in South Carolina, the essays in Beyond the Walls crosscut time and space to consider the interrelationships between households and the wider regional and global networks in which their residents were...

Written by an international team of experts, the Handbook makes accessible a full range of theoretical and applied approaches to the study of material culture, and the place of materiality in social theory, presenting current thinking about material culture from the fields of archaeology, anthropology, geography, and science and technology studies.