Archaeology and the Historical Construction of Community at Feltville / Glenside Park

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Collaborative and Community-Based Archaeology" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This paper examines how concepts of community are constructed retrospectively and also in the present mainly through processes of argumentation and consensus-building and very often in lieu of many substantive facts. The "Deserted Village"'s 250+ year history is well-complemented by its landscape archaeology, but has, at times, been weighed-down and side-tracked by assumptions, exaggerations and highly fanciful ideas derived from secondary histories. And yet, these historical fictions have also shed light on empirical facts and have helped to create the modern communities that benefit from the preservation and study of the village. A more prudent approach to understanding the character of historic communities requires recognition of and sensitivity to the intersubjective and largely fictive elements of folk histories that often inspire community identity.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Collaborative and Community-Based Archaeology   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24177