Investigating the Ordinary
Everyday Matters in Southeast Archaeology
Published on 6. August 2024
Book
Paperback/Softback
292 pages
978-1-68340-443-9 (ISBN)
Description
Shifting the focus to everyday life in the archaeology of the Southeast US
Focusing on the daily concerns, activities, and routine events of people in the past, Investigating the Ordinary argues for a paradigm shift in the way southeastern archaeologists operate and urges them to think of the archaeological record in new ways. Instead of dividing archaeological work by time periods or artifact types, the essays in this volume unite separate areas of research through the theme of the everyday.The contributors to this volume bring together case studies detailing ordinary people and their lives, spanning the Paleoindian period to the nineteenth century. The essays include an examination of how the white-tailed deer was entangled in the lives of Middle Archaic people not only as a food source but as a social and spiritual creature, as well as a look at the domestic lives of those who made exotic goods for the political and social elites in the Middle Woodland period. Cooking vessels in the Late Archaic period help trace the daily lives of the many people involved in their production, use, and eventual deposition. Mound sites are reconsidered in light of the everyday--assessing not only the meaning of the sites but the mobilization of labor and the deployment of resources that went into creating them.
Taken together, these essays demonstrate that attention to everyday life can help researchers avoid overemphasizing data and jargon and instead discover connections between the people of different eras. This approach will also inspire archaeologists with ways to humanize their research and engage the public with their work and with the deep history of the southeastern United States.
A volume in the Florida Museum of Natural History: Ripley P. Bullen Series Contributors: Philip J. Carr; Sarah E. Price; D. Shane Miller; Jesse Tune; Christopher B. Rodning; Jayur M. Mehta; Bryan S. Haley; Lance Greene; Kandace D. Hollenbach; Stephen B. Carmody; Ashley A. Dumas; Christopher R. Moore; Richard W. Jeffries; Asa R. Randall
Focusing on the daily concerns, activities, and routine events of people in the past, Investigating the Ordinary argues for a paradigm shift in the way southeastern archaeologists operate and urges them to think of the archaeological record in new ways. Instead of dividing archaeological work by time periods or artifact types, the essays in this volume unite separate areas of research through the theme of the everyday.The contributors to this volume bring together case studies detailing ordinary people and their lives, spanning the Paleoindian period to the nineteenth century. The essays include an examination of how the white-tailed deer was entangled in the lives of Middle Archaic people not only as a food source but as a social and spiritual creature, as well as a look at the domestic lives of those who made exotic goods for the political and social elites in the Middle Woodland period. Cooking vessels in the Late Archaic period help trace the daily lives of the many people involved in their production, use, and eventual deposition. Mound sites are reconsidered in light of the everyday--assessing not only the meaning of the sites but the mobilization of labor and the deployment of resources that went into creating them.
Taken together, these essays demonstrate that attention to everyday life can help researchers avoid overemphasizing data and jargon and instead discover connections between the people of different eras. This approach will also inspire archaeologists with ways to humanize their research and engage the public with their work and with the deep history of the southeastern United States.
A volume in the Florida Museum of Natural History: Ripley P. Bullen Series Contributors: Philip J. Carr; Sarah E. Price; D. Shane Miller; Jesse Tune; Christopher B. Rodning; Jayur M. Mehta; Bryan S. Haley; Lance Greene; Kandace D. Hollenbach; Stephen B. Carmody; Ashley A. Dumas; Christopher R. Moore; Richard W. Jeffries; Asa R. Randall
Reviews / Votes
"Encourages archaeologists to consider the complexities of everyday life, and to recognize that the practices, animals, and materials that people engage with on a daily basis have important effects in the broader sociocultural context."-Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology"Investigating the Ordinary makes a convincing case that the everyday matters in archaeological discourse, and that we, as producers of this discourse, have a responsibility to continue its relevance in today's world."-Mississippi ArchaeologyMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Florida
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
23 illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
429 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-68340-443-9 (9781683404439)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
07/2024
University of Florida Press
€29.49
Available for download
Persons
Sarah E. Price, senior archaeologist with Wiregrass Archaeological Consulting, is coeditor of Contemporary Lithic Analysis in the Southeast: Problems, Solutions, and Interpretations.
Philip J. Carr, professor of anthropology at the University of South Alabama, is coeditor of Signs of Power: The Rise of Cultural Complexity in the Southeast.
Philip J. Carr, professor of anthropology at the University of South Alabama, is coeditor of Signs of Power: The Rise of Cultural Complexity in the Southeast.