Familiar Past?: Archaeologies of Later Historical Britain

The Familiar Past surveys material culture from 1500 to the present day. Fourteen case studies, grouped under related topics, include discussion of issues such as:

* the origins of modernity in urban contexts
* the historical anthropology of food
* the social and spatial construction of country houses
* the social history of a workhouse site
* changes in memorial forms and inscriptions
* the archaeological treatment of gardens.

The Familiar Past has been structured as a teaching text and will be useful to students of history and archaeology.

The popular perception of archaeologists as people who dig up things from the prehistoric or classical world is being challenged. Archaeology, as the study of physical remains of the human past, includes the Victorian workhouse as well as the Bronze Age axe. This collection surveys material culture from 1500 to the present day and demonstrates how its study can bring a new understanding to what we think of as the familiar past.

The Familiar Past? draws together current interpretative work in Britain, explicitly influenced by recent methodological and theoretical developments. Fourteen case studies include discussion of issues such as the origins of modernity in urban contexts, the historical anthropology of food, the social and spatial construction of country houses, the social history of a workhouse site, changes in memorial forms and inscriptions, and the archaeological treatment of gardens.

The study of the material past can address complex social issues concerning power, identity and meaning. Using a multitude of sources – documentary, literary and material – historical archaeologists are well-equipped to examine these questions. The Familiar Past? is essential reading for students of archaeology and social history.

About the Editors

Sarah Tarlow is Lecturer in Archaeology at the University of Wales, Lampeter.

Susie West is completing her PhD at the University of East Anglia.