Barbara J Little - Historical Archaeology: Why the Past Matters

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HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY

But nothings lost. Or else: all is translation

And every bit of us is lost in it

JAMES MERRILL, LOST IN TRANSLATION

For Paul A. Shackel

Historical Archaeology

Why the Past Matters

Barbara J. Little

First published 2007 by Left Coast Press, Inc.

Published 2016 by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

Copyright 2007 Taylor & Francis

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproducedor utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Notice:

Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Information

Little, Barbara J.

Historical archaeology : why the past matters / Barbara J. Little.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-1-59874-022-6 (hardcover : alk. paper)

ISBN-10: 1-59874-022-9 (hardcover : alk. paper)

ISBN-13: 978-1-59874-023-3 (paperback : alk. paper)

ISBN-10: 1-59874-023-7 (paperback : alk. paper)

1. Archaeology and history. 2. Historic sites. 3. Excavations (Archaeology) 4. ArchaeologyPhilosophy. 5. ArchaeologyMethodology. I. Title.

CC77.H5L58 2007

930.1dc22

2006026623

ISBN-13: 978-1-59874-022-6 (hardcover)

ISBN-13: 978-1-59874-023-3 (paperback)

Contents

I wrote this book because I have been interested in how often we say that we value history because we learn from the past. I have been deeply impressed by how little we actually seem to do so.

I also am fascinated by the ways that we seem to connect only with selected parts of the past. Often our selective memory seems to focus on our own specific (selected) ancestors and, more troubling, on those parts of the past that we use to reassure ourselves that things are as they should be. In other words, I find it troubling, if unsurprising, that the past is used to support the status quo, with all its intolerance, injustice, and inequality. I believe we can do better.

The past provides us with a long-term perspective. For those with a scientific bent, it may be useful to think of it as a laboratory of sorts, albeit a rather sloppy one, where humanity has tried out many different approaches to living in the human condition. Our scholarshipour penchant for studying and analyzingcan help us to move beyond lip service to an ability to truly learn from the past and from other cultures. In addition, hopefully, we can also act on the lessons we learn. We are a global village full of conflict, cooperation, and certainties that are anything but certain. Prejudice and fear arise from lies, misperceptions, and partial truths.

As a child growing up during the Cold War, I watched countless hours of TV programming about spies, law and order, and justice. That courtroom phrase the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth resonated with me. I came to believe that the whole story matters and I still believe it. We sometimes live up to the better angels of our nature, as Abraham Lincoln put it in his first inaugural address. At the other extreme, sometimes we createand even revel ininjustice, terror, and chaos.

We tend to ignore evidence in favor of what we think we know or want to believe. I believe that we need a different attitude. Documentary history offers us one set of evidence about the past. Archaeology offers us a different kind of evidence. Historical archaeology is a kind of scholarship that challenges our certainties in useful ways.

Many of my examples of historical archaeologyfrom Jamestown to the Garbage Projectcome from the United States, which led the development of the discipline through the 20th century. Recently historical archaeology has boomed in other countries. I also include examples from Canada, England, Australia, Brazil, Ireland, and Ghana. Historical archaeologys focus on the development of the modern world insists that our work be global. I believe that we are starting to figure out how to balance the local against the global, general trends and far-reaching events against details, material against imagined.

We are learning about peoples lives as they struggled and coped with variable success with the dramatic changes in the world over the last few centuries. And we are also learning more general things such as: people do things differently from what they say they do; everyday objects are important parts of our lives; diversity is the rule rather than the exception; humility and compassion are the most honest ways to approach our world. You will draw other conclusions from the work I explore here. One thing will surely strike you: ambiguity is pervasive; there is always more to the story.

I t is no small logistical matter to write a book while one is working full time, so Im a little amazed that I am at the point of writing acknowledgments. (Thanks to my coworkers, who tolerated my taking more vacation days than usual.)

I am heartened by how difficult it was to choose which stories to tell, particularly in , because it speaks to me of how vibrant the field of historical archaeology has become over the last few decades. To my many colleagues who are not quoted or whose work is not featured, I apologize for my egregious lack of good judgment. It goes without saying, but Ill say it anyway: errors in interpretation are solely my responsibility.

I owe a great many thanks to:

Mitch Allen at Left Coast Press, especially because writing something like this has been on my mind for a while (and thanks for the ridiculously quick deadlines!no, really. By the way, I still like my original title better);

Rachel Fudge, for her efficient and friendly production skills, and Angela Watrous for copyediting;

Bonnie Styles and Terry Martin of the Illinois State Museum for giving me a place to work during the second half of July 2005 where I could get seriously started writing this;

Friends and colleagues willing to talk about what the past means to them and archaeologists everywhere who see their work as meaningful;

Teresa Moyer, Paul Shackel, and Frank McManamon for their helpful comments, guide to resources, collegiality, and generous willingness to read the first draft quickly. Thanks to Frank McManamon for pointing out the complexity of the Henry Ford quote, and special thanks to Teresa Moyer for her fine editorial sense in uncovering snags in the final draft;

My colleagues who provided images: Stephen Brighton (Five Points), Bonnie McEwen and Elyse Cornelison (San Luis), Thad Van Bueren (Alabama Gates Camp), Paul Shackel (Harpers Ferry and New Philadelphia), Tom Durand of the National Park Service Historic Photo Collection (Jamestown);

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