Interpreting the Early Modern World: Transatlantic Perspectives (Contributions To Global Historical Archaeology) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0387707581 ISBN 13: 9780387707587

Publisher: Springer, 2010

Synopsis

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.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Although historical archaeologists often explore similar themes, the intellectual traditions in the United States and the United Kingdom lead to differing interpretations of these themes. The contributions to this innovative volume provide a bridge between a US-based archaeologist and a UK-based archaeologist on the themes of landscape studies, urban archaeology, memory and memorialization, gender studies, the lives of industrial workers, and archaeological biographies. The chapters are not meant to stand in isolation, but rather provide a dialog between both groups. This work explores the strengths of interpretive historical archaeology in the US and the UK, as well as compare and contrast differing approaches. It aims to foster debate and productive collaborations between historical archaeologists from different geographic regions. It will of interest to UK and US-based archaeologists, as well as those performing interpretive historical archaeology in other regions who will benefit from the insights it provides.

Review:

[The volume] is concerned with the practice of interpretive archaeology on historical period sites, and how approaches differ  between the Americas and the British Isles...the organization of this book, which presents one paper from either side of the Atlantic for each theme, allows for comparisons of approaches and ideas. Herein lies the strength of the volume: it is a composite piece, both self-reflective and critical....Together, these chapters demonstrate various challenges, in addition to the importance of developing a context-specific archaeological framework for site selection. This call for contextual research is furthered by Beaudry, who argues in her chapter that the experience of women cannot be wholly determined through the identification of 'female' objects, such as thimbles and bodkins. Her approach thereby challenges the use of norms when making archaeological interpretations...

Beaudry and Symonds' collection is a very readable, well-structured volume, and represents the potential of collaborative transnational research for understanding the recent past.
Katherine Fennelly, Post-Medieval Archaeology, 42/2, 2012

About this edition

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0387707581
• ISBN 13: 9780387707587
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 268
• Editor: Beaudry Mary C., Symonds James