Archaeology of Contemporary America

An introduction to the field ofcontemporary archaeology as practiced in the United States

Thisbook is the first survey of contemporary archaeology, a field that focuses onthe study of the past 50 years, in the United States. William Caraherdemonstrates the plurality of theoretical and methodological approaches thatmake this discipline in the US unique, including the application of anthropologicalmethods such as ethnography and oral history and the contributions of collaborativeand community-based research.

Openingwith a case study of the excavation of Atari games from a municipal landfill inAlamogordo, New Mexico, Caraher invites readers into discussions of thearchaeology of garbage, consumer objects, and digital music and video devices. Hethen synthesizes research on migrant camps, homelessness, military bases,residential school campuses, and urbanism, and offers a second case study: anexamination of temporary workforce housing in North Dakota''s Bakken oil boom.

TheArchaeology of Contemporary America explores how American historicalarchaeology, with its emphasis on consumer culture, race, and social class,provided a foundation for early efforts to apply archaeology to thecontemporary world. Caraher also situates US contemporary archaeology in aglobal context that traces networks of extractive industries, manufacturing, anddiscard practices that make the American experience possible.

Avolume in the series the American Experience in Archaeological Perspective,edited by Michael S. Nassaney and Krysta Ryzewski