Historical archaeology through a Western lens / edited and with an introduction by Mark Warner and Margaret Purser.

"An exploration of Western historical archaeologists' role in American regionalism and a call for creating archaeologies of the West as an alternative to the isolated archaeologists working in the West"--Provided by publisher.

"The mythic American West, with its perilous frontiers, big skies, and vast resources, is frequently perceived as unchanging and timeless. The work of many western-based historical archaeologists over the past decade, however, has revealed narratives that often sharply challenge that timelessness. Historical Archaeology Through a Western Lens reveals an archaeological past that is distinct to the region--but not in ways that popular imagination might suggest. Instead, this volume highlights a western past characterized by rapid and ever-changing interactions between diverse groups of people across a wide range of environmental and economic situations. The dynamic and unpredictable lives of western communities have prompted a constant challenging and reimagining of both individual identities and collective understandings of their position within a broader national experience. Indeed, the archaeological West is one clearly characterized by mobility rather than stasis. The archaeologies presented in this volume explore the impact of that pervasive human mobility on the West--a world of transience, impermanence, seasonal migration, and accelerated trade and technology at scales ranging from the local to the global. By documenting the challenges of both local community-building and global networking, they provide an archaeologyofthe West that is ultimatelyfromthe West"--Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: Historical Archaeology Through a Western Lens / Margaret Purser and Mark Warner -- Part 1. Economics and Economies -- Boomtimes and Boomsurfers : Toward a Material Culture of Western Expansion / Margaret Purser -- The Archaeology of San Francisco's Gold Rush Waterfront, 1849-1851 : Building a New Model of the 19th Century Pacific Rim Maritime "Frontier" / James P. Delgado -- "Where Ornament and Function are so Agreeably Combined" : A New Look at Consumer Choice Studies Using English Ceramic Wares at Hudson's Bay Company, Fort Vancouver / Robert J. Cromwell -- Approaching Transient Labor through Archaeology / Mark Walker -- Part 2. Archaeologies of Race and Racism -- "Can We Separate the 'Indian' from the 'American' in the Historical Archaeology of the American Indian?" / Joe Watkins -- Rock Hearths and Rural Wood Camps in Jīn Shān/Gām Saan : National Register of Historic Places Evaluations of 19th-century Chinese Logging Operations at Heavenly Ski Resort in the Lake Tahoe Basin / Kelly J. Dixon and Carrie Smith -- Archaeology of the Chinese and Japanese Diasporas in North America and a Framework for Comparing Material Lives of Transnational Migrant Communities / Douglas E. Ross -- Digging Yesterday : The Archaeology of Living Memory at Amache / Bonnie J. Clark -- Part 3. Reassessing the West -- The Cultural Context of Commerce : Historical Anthropology and Historical Silences along the Mountain Branch of the Santa Fe Trail / Minette Church -- Our Dangerous Discipline : Doing Historical Archaeology in Utah / Timothy James Scarlett -- The Mild Wild West : Settling Communities and Settling Households in Turn of the Century Idaho / Mark Warner -- Epilogue / Matthew Johnson.

Print version record and CIP data provided by publisher.

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