Crossing Paths or Sharing Tracks?: Future directions in the archaeological study of post-1550 Britain and Ireland(Society for Post Medieval Archaeology Monograph Series)

Brings together over thirty of the leading scholars in Post Medieval archaeology and examines how this relatively new discipline has developed and where it is going. The impetus for this volume lies in the expansion of interest in Post Medieval archaeology in university, commercial, and voluntary sectors. The study of Post Medieval archaeology is a relatively new discipline but, within archaeology as a whole, it represents one of the fastest growing areas of study. Archaeologists seek to avoid the fragmentation of a still small discipline into subfields such as pre-1750 post-medieval archaeology, post-1750 industrial archaeology, or the incorporation of theory as somehow outside of the purview of the work of the older organisations. This important and timely volume brings together articles that consider the commonalties between approaches as well as the unique contributions made by members of each organisation towards the study of the material heritage of the post-1550 period. The chapters in the volume derive from a well-attended three day conference held at the University of Leicester in April 2008 and sponsored by the Society for Post-medieval Archaeology, the Association for Industrial Archaeology, and the Irish Post-Medieval Archaeology Group. The aim of the discussion-focused conference was to foster enhanced understanding and cooperation between the organisations and their approaches; with in-depth consideration of the future of the broader field of historical archaeology. The volume will bring the debatefrom the conference to a wider academic, professional, and vocational audience and, it is anticipated, will act as a benchmark by which future development will be judged.

Table of Contents:
Foreword Introduction - Audrey Horning Introduction From crossing paths to sharing tracks - Marilyn Palmer Section One Introduction: Of Practice and Paradigm - Audrey Horning and Marilyn Palmer The Dialectics of Scale in the Historical Archaeology of the Modern World - Charles E. Orser An amorphous farrago? The Contribution of Industrial Archaeology - David Gwyn People versus machines or People and Machines? Current Research Directions within British Post-medieval and Industrial ArchaeologyIndustrial Archaeology - Mike Nevell A Review of the Archaeological Contribution to the understanding of the Industrial Past - Shane Gould Twenty years a'growing: University-based Teaching & Research of Historical Archaeology on the island of Ireland - Colin Breen Irish 'post-medieval' archaeology: time to lose our innocence? - Tadhg O'Keeffe Encouraging interest in the recent past - Tony Crosby Post-Medieval Archaeology: a personal perspective - Paul Courtney An Archaeological Avant-Garde - James Dixon Section Two: Analytical Approaches Introduction - Audrey Horning and Marilyn Palmer Science for historic industries - glass and glassworking - Sarah Paynter and David Dungworth and Justine Bayley Bones of contention: why later post-medieval faunal assemblages in Britain matter - Richard Thomas Finds, Deposits, and Assigned Status: New Approaches to Defined Relationships - Michael Berry Haulbowline Island, Cork Harbour, Ireland, c. 1816-1832. A new archaeological perspective on Ireland's 'coloniality' - Colin Rynne English Industrial Landscapes - divergence, convergence and perceptions of identity - Paul Belford Historic Landscape Characterisation, More Than a Management Tool? - Caron Newman The Whitehaven coast 1500-2000 - Post-Medieval, Industrial, and Historical archaeology? - David Cranstone The changing countryside: the impact of industrialisation on rural settlement in the 18th and 19th centuries - Richard Newman Understanding landscape: inter-disciplinary dialogue and the post-medieval countryside - Chris Dalglish Section Three: Of People and Things Introduction - Marilyn Palmer and Audrey Horning Lancashire Cotton Mills and Power - R N Holden Material concerns: the State of Post-Medieval Finds Studies - The View From Afar: International Perspectives on the Analysis of post-1750 Ceramics in Britain and Ireland - Alasdair Brooks Post-1550 urban archaeology in a developer-funded context: an example from Grand Arcade, Cambridge - Craig Cessford Rematerialising Metropolitan Histories? People, places and things in modern London - Rupert Featherby Rematerialising Metropolitan Histories? People, places and things in modern London - Nigel Jeffries Rematerialising Metropolitan Histories? People, places and things in modern London - Alastair Owens Rematerialising Metropolitan Histories? People, places and things in modern London - Karen Wehner Rematerialising Metropolitan Histories? People, places and things in modern London - Dan Hicks Underneath the Arches: the afterlife of a railway viaduct - Emma Dwyer 'You knew where you were:' An archaeology of working households in turn-of-century Cheshire - Eleanor Casella Pulling the Threads Together: Issues of Theory and Practice in an Archaeology of the Modern World - Stephen Mrozowski Conclusion: The Way Forward? - Audrey Horning and Marilyn Palmer

About the Author :
Senior Lecturer in Historical Archaeology, University of Leicester Professor Emerita of Industrial Archaeology, University of Leicester

Review :
A handsomely produced volume. Eclectic, yes, but also explanatory and exciting.