Mapping Transience: An Archaeology of Hobo Movement and Placemaking

Summary

GIS has become a powerful tool for visualizing cultural activity over time and space. We have found that it is invaluable in the archaeological study of movement and transient labor. In this paper, we aim to demonstrate how the use of geospatial technology in conjunction with the material record can offer a glimpse into the daily movements of transient laborers along Mid-Atlantic railway networks and industrial centers in the late 19th century through the Great Depression. Specifically, we suggest that the spatial relationships that emerge at an historic hobo jungle located just outside Delta, PA are not simply manifestations of economic or social hardship. Rather, we view transient worker movement and labor patterns as an essential aspect of early 20th century capitalism from which a unique form of resistance emerged. The distribution of artifacts within the site (revealing patterns of behavior by occupants coming and going from the camp over time), and the modeling of the physical location of the camp in proximity to the railroad, slate quarry, creek, and town center, are necessarily conjoined spatial and temporal units, which reveal a social structure dialectically entangled with the nearby town and broader regional economy.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22189