Materiality and the urban: recent theses in archaeology and material culture and their importance for the study of urban history

Half a century on from Ivor Noel Hume's reference to archaeology as the ‘handmaiden to history’, historical-period archaeology has come quite a way. From disparate origins, in anthropological approaches to material and rescue archaeology in North America, and industrial and buildings archaeolog...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inUrban history Vol. 44; no. 3; pp. 564 - 573
Main Author FENNELLY, KATHERINE
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.08.2017
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Subjects
20th century
Anthropology
Archaeology
British history
Collaboration
Cultural heritage
Deindustrialization
Dissertations & theses
Excavation
Historians
Historic artifacts
History
Interdisciplinary subjects
Material culture
Materiality
Planning
Survey and Speculations
Urban areas
Urban history
United Kingdom > UK
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Summary:Half a century on from Ivor Noel Hume's reference to archaeology as the ‘handmaiden to history’, historical-period archaeology has come quite a way. From disparate origins, in anthropological approaches to material and rescue archaeology in North America, and industrial and buildings archaeology in Britain and Europe, the sub-discipline has coalesced into a structured approach to the recent past. Hume's comment is often misinterpreted as a critique of archaeology's supposed inferiority to history, yet his comment actually refers to the potential for archaeological material to inform historical narratives, fill in gaps and populate the histories of non-literate peoples with a material culture. Unfortunately, overlap between the two disciplines is still in relatively short supply. In light of the recent material turn in the humanities, however, as well as an increased interest amongst historians and geographers in engaging with material culture, archaeological approaches to artifacts, sites and built heritage are in a strong position to inform methods for examining the historical material environment. Collaboration is now not only necessary, but timely, and this review of theses is an attempt to further that potential for co-operation amongst those who study the past. The doctoral theses reviewed here explore changes and developments in the modern city from a material perspective, evidencing both the breadth of approaches and the potential for research in the arts and archaeological sciences to stimulate new studies across different disciplines.
ISSN:0963-9268
1469-8706
DOI:10.1017/S0963926817000256