Comprehensive report on rescue excavation of 32 individuals who died at the Uxbridge Almshouse between 1831 and 1872 and were buried in its cemetery. It must be coincidence that 19th century coffin lid hinges look like 1st century Roman armour fittings!

This practical volume focuses on the study of historic burial ground monuments but also covers some below ground archaeology, as some projects will involve the study of both. It will be an incomparable source for academic archaeologists, cultural resource and heritage management archaeologists, government heritage agencies, and upper-level undergraduate and graduate students of archaeology focused on the historic or post-medieval period, as well as forensic researchers and anthropologists.

This volume offers lively current debates and case studies in historical archaeology selected from around the world, including North America, Latin America, Africa, the Pacific, and Europe. Authored by 19 experts in the field. Explores how historical archaeologists think about their work, piecing together information from both material culture and documents in an attempt to understand the lives of the people and societies they study. Engages with current theory in an accessible manner. Truly global in its approach but avoids subsuming local experiences of people into global patterns. Summarizes not only the current state of historical archaeology, but also sets the course for the field in decades to come.

The archaeological assemblage from the Hyde Park Barracks is one of the largest, most comprehensive and best preserved collections of artefacts from any 19th-century institution in the world.

Publisher Description

In the first half of the nineteenth-century, responsibility for child care primarily rested within families. Needy children were often cared for by community-sponsored efforts that varied widely in quality, as well as by benevolent organizations dedicated to children’s welfare. The late 1800s was marked by major social service infrastructure construction and development. During this period, guided by progressive concerns about the role of the state in responding to societal changes resulting from urbanization and industrialization, Rhode Island took on a more active statewide role in public education, sewers, parks, prisons, and child welfare systems. New ideas about civil rights extended to race, to women, to labor, and to children. Old institutions, such as town almshouses and poor farms, were replaced by state institutions, such as the State Home, which opened in 1885. One might expect to find a huge record for custodial children well imbedded in regional literatures or social science and history texts, yet this is not the case. The State Home Project began in 2001 with no evocative life histories, and no local or regional childhood narratives about the former residents of the State Home upon which to build. It remains an important place because thousands of children and citizens lived portions of their lives there. Documenting children's educational, social and health experiences are not inconsequential. To be sure, varied narratives about custodial children developed as we dug into the soils, read unexamined case histories, and talked with former residents. Archaeology offers the possibility of recovering lost and missing details, and, in collaboration with other disciplines, creates a rich narrative of a place. These experiences were significant in our past; they are important to us in the present and to future generations. They demonstrate our common history.

Now including numerous full colour figures, this updated and revised edition of Larsen's classic text provides a comprehensive overview of the fundamentals of bioarchaeology. Reflecting the enormous advances made in the field over the past twenty years, the author examines how this discipline has matured and evolved in fundamental ways. Jargon free and richly illustrated, the text is accompanied by copious case studies and references to underscore the central role that human remains play in the interpretation of life events and conditions of past and modern cultures. From the origins and spread of infectious disease to the consequences of decisions made by humans with regard to the kinds of foods produced, and their nutritional, health and behavioral outcomes. With local, regional, and global perspectives, this up-to-date text provides a solid foundation for all those working in the field.