Historical Archaeologies of Cognition
Explorations into Faith, Hope and Charity
1st Edition
Published on 15. September 2013
Book
Hardback
208 pages
978-1-84553-534-6 (ISBN)
Description
This collection of essays draws inspiration from the late James Deetz's In Small Things Forgotten (1977). Deetz's seminal work broke new ground by using structuralist theory to show how artefacts reflected the 'worldviews' or ideologies of their makers and users, and went on to claim that the American colonial world had been structured according to a British intellectual blueprint, the so-called 'Georgian Order'. Thirty years on, this influential thesis has been substantially revised by more recent scholarship, but Deetz's central premise, that the systematic study of mundane material objects such as tombstones, architecture, and furniture, can render palpable the intangible aspects of human cognition and belief systems, has become a fundamental tenet of modern historical archaeology. Drawing upon James Deetz's insight that everyday objects from the recent past are 'freighted with social significance' and that material culture operates alongside language as a system of communication, the authors present a series of case studies which unravel specific cultural moments in well-documented historical periods across the modern world. The studies in this volume range in date from the early 17th century to the late 20th century and are unified by the way in which they employ theory from archaeology and anthropology to elucidate the complex links between human thought and action. The international authors make a significant contribution to archaeological knowledge through their ability to move beyond simple materialities to create human stories which transcend purely descriptive show-and-tell accounts of archaeological sites and allow taken-for-granted constructions of race, class and gender to be probed and challenged.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
45 figures
Dimensions
Height: 260 mm
Width: 183 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
600 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-84553-534-6 (9781845535346)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
James Symonds teaches historical archaeology at the University of York. Anna Badcock is Regional Director of Strategy and Development at ArcHeritage in Sheffield. Jeff Oliver is Lecturer of Archaeology at the University of Aberdeen.
Content
Chapter 1 Finding Belief, Desire, and Benevolence James Symonds and Jeff Oliver Part I Landscapes, Power, and Belief Chapter 2 Catholic Artefacts in a Protestant Landscape: A Multi-vocal Approach to the Religiosity of Jamestown's Colonists Brent R. Fortenberry & Travis G Parno (both at Boston University) Chapter 3 Discipline, church and landscape: Tornio Northern Finland, during the 17th and 18th centuries Timo Ylimaunu (University of Oulu) Chapter 4 "Believe, Hon": Markets, Faith, and Archaeology in 21st Century Baltimore David Gadsby (US National Park Service) Part II Faith in Fashion Chapter 5 Trans-Atlantic Perspectives on 18th-Century Clothing Carolyn L. White (University of Nevada, Reno) Chapter 6 Articles of Faith and Decency: the Huguenot refugees Greig Parker (University of Sheffield) Part III Colonial Entanglements Chapter 7 Methodists in Paradise Jonathan Prangnell & Kate Quirk (both at the University of Queensland) Chapter 8 Reflections on Resistance: Agency, Identity and being Indigenous in Colonial British Columbia Jeff Oliver Part IV Confinement & Resistance Chapter 9 Silent resistance and the V-sign campaign in Channel Islander internee camps in Germany during WWII Gillian Carr (University of Cambridge) Chapter 10 America's World War II Internment Camps: Japanese American patriotism and defiance at Manzanar Jeff Burton (US National Park Service) Chapter 11 A place of fear: Long Kesh/Maze prison site, Northern Ireland Laura McAtackney (University College Dublin) Part V Death & Remembrance Chapter 12 Faith in Action: theology and practice in commemorative traditions Harold Mytum (University of Liverpool) Chapter 13 The Changing Memories and Meanings of World War One Expressed Through Public Commemorations Sam Walls (University of Exeter)