Dynamic Households on the Irish Frontier: An Archaeology of the 18th -19th Century West Coast

Summary

This research explores colonial transformation of households and communities on the fringes of empire - the frontier. Often overlooked, these fluid spaces have revelatory potential regarding deeply situated cultural change and social dynamics in the face of catastrophic adjustment. This project focuses on the local processes as embodied by these individual households and rural communities on the coast of western Ireland in order to understand larger regional and national social and cultural transformations. Contextual variability and social change are examined through the lens of material activity and change in the 18th and 19th centuries. The material remains from Inishark and Inishbofin, two islands off the coast of Co. Galway, demonstrate the presence and connection to broader global networks of economic trade and access. This evidence counters the pre-existing academic narrative of colonialism by framing these areas as frontier zones in order to better understand the degrees of complexity and nuances of change. Through examination of ceramic material and architectural remains from excavations of several different households on these islands, the data reveals dynamic and complex economic interactions between communities off the coast, on the mainland and abroad.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Materiality, Experience, and "Irishness": The Irish and Irish-American Experience through Time

Keywords

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