The archaeology of class in urban America / Stephen A. Mrozowski.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mrozowski, Stephen A.

Series:

Cambridge studies in archaeology

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social classes--United States--History.

Social classes.

Urban archaeology.

Industrial archaeology.

United States.

History.

City and town life--United States--History.

City and town life.

Industrial archaeology--United States--Case studies.

Urban archaeology--United States--Case studies.

Newport (R.I.)--History--18th century.

Newport (R.I.).

Lowell (Mass.)--History--19th century.

Lowell (Mass.).

Genre:

Case studies.

Physical Description:

xvii, 190 pages : illustrations, plans ; 26 cm.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, UK ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Summary:

No examination of contemporary urban communities would be complete without the discussion of class identity. But how did class identity inform the urban communities of yesteryear? Taking Newport, Rhode Island in the eighteenth century and Lowell, Massachusetts in the nineteenth century as case studies, this book explores the material and biological manifestations of class identity. Both places are studied at a time when they were at the peak of their economic powers and represented some of the purist forms of capitalist production in North America. Stephen Mrozowski uses a combination of documentary research, material cultural studies, and environmental archaeology to probe the lives of artisans, merchants, and mill workers in these urban communities. Taking an interdisciplinary approach to fully examine burgeoning notions of class, he offers significant new insights into the factors shaping those notions. This engaging study, supported throughout by tables, illustrations, and graphs, is required reading for all students of urban history and historical archaeology.

Contents:

2 Individuals in context: the world of eighteenth-century Newport 19

3 Shifting the focus: archaeology of the urban household 37

4 A new world created: nineteenth-century Lowell 63

5 Interrogating the experiment: Lowell's urban space and culture 97

6 Conclusion: contested spaces and the threads of everyday life 141

7 Epilogue: toward a dialectical archaeology of class 157

Appendix Isolating and dating household assemblages in the urban context 161.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 169-185) and index.

ISBN:

052185394X

OCLC:

62532889

Publisher Number:

9780521853941