Success vs. Excess: The Historical Archaeology of Rural Outliers

Summary

This is an abstract from the "The Transformation of Historical Archaeology: Papers in Honor of Charles E Orser, Jr" session, at the 2019 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

The topic of this paper explores material life and economic strategies among rural outliers, defined as rural households that were very successful economically.  The examples in the paper are drawn from sites in the South and Midwest. The sites illustrate that for rural households, archaeologists should be cautious about pat generalizations regarding material conditions and social class.  The relationships between household economic strategies and material life were complex, varied and time sensitive. Rural outliers broadcasted success in different ways, through the domestic landscape and the built environment and not necessarily through items encountered archaeologically, such as household furnishings and matching ceramics.  Also, some households may have chosen to overtly mark success while others may have masked or dampened affluence for various reasons.  Factors such as race, gender, religion, place of origin, and location in the family life cycle could significantly influence material conditions among rural outliers.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2019   •
• The Transformation of Historical Archaeology: Papers in Honor of Charles E Orser, Jr

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 284