"There and Back Again": The Atlantic World Concept in Historical Archaeology

Summary

The concept of an "Atlantic World" is a useful one for historical archaeologists because it provides a general geographic starting point for investigations that focus on the transformation of the world and the expansion of European imperial networks but defies strict physical, temporal, and cultural boundaries. As the limits of the known world expanded for Europeans and non-Europeans alike, its mysterious edges contracted, and people and places isolated from outside developments became increasingly rare between 1400 and 1900 AD. The nebulous nature of the Atlantic world framework allows scholars exploring such disparate topics as the eighteenth-century dietary choices in Bermuda to the plight of mid-nineteenth century Irish laborers in Virginia to find common interpretive ground based on the necessity of placing these studies and others within the context of their larger social, cultural, and economic networks. 

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Across the Pond: New Ventures in a New World   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2013

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 675