William R. Caraher – författare

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

This book is a collective reflection on the relationship between theory and methods, as practiced by American archaeologists of the Byzantine period in Greece, Turkey, Ukraine, and Egypt between the 1990s and 2020s. The eleven authors represent a generational voice that employed theory to redirect the established narratives of the golden age of Byzantine archaeology (1960s–1980s) that privileged art and religion.

Beyond Icons: Theories and Methods in Byzantine Archaeology in North America originated in three conferences (2010, 2012, and 2013) organized by the Program of Byzantine Studies at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C. Acknowledging the role that Dumbarton Oaks played in the golden age of Byzantine archaeology, Program Director Margaret Mullett designed these conferences as exercises in conceptualizing the field’s future. The chapters consider theories of fragments, methodologies in regional surface survey, stratigraphy, habitus, phenomenology, gender theory, craft, dreams, and sound. In doing so, they capture a moment in the study of Byzantine archaeology and material culture and chart out future directions for the field.

This book will appeal to scholars and students alike, as well as all those interested in Byzantine Studies, medieval archaeology (particularly of the eastern Mediterranean), and Byzantine material culture. It will also be of interest to anyone seeking to understand the emerging narrative of a global Middle Ages. The chapters reflect the ways in which the study of Byzantine archaeology was shaped by the scholarship of those working in the United States and Canada.

This book is a collective reflection on the relationship between theory and methods, as practiced by American archaeologists of the Byzantine period in Greece, Turkey, Ukraine, and Egypt between the 1990s and 2020s. The eleven authors represent a generational voice that employed theory to redirect the established narratives of the golden age of Byzantine archaeology (1960s–1980s) that privileged art and religion.

Beyond Icons: Theories and Methods in Byzantine Archaeology in North America originated in three conferences (2010, 2012, and 2013) organized by the Program of Byzantine Studies at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C. Acknowledging the role that Dumbarton Oaks played in the golden age of Byzantine archaeology, Program Director Margaret Mullett designed these conferences as exercises in conceptualizing the field’s future. The chapters consider theories of fragments, methodologies in regional surface survey, stratigraphy, habitus, phenomenology, gender theory, craft, dreams, and sound. In doing so, they capture a moment in the study of Byzantine archaeology and material culture and chart out future directions for the field.

This book will appeal to scholars and students alike, as well as all those interested in Byzantine Studies, medieval archaeology (particularly of the eastern Mediterranean), and Byzantine material culture. It will also be of interest to anyone seeking to understand the emerging narrative of a global Middle Ages. The chapters reflect the ways in which the study of Byzantine archaeology was shaped by the scholarship of those working in the United States and Canada.