Interpreting the Early Modern World: Transatlantic Perspectives (Contributions To Global Historical Archaeology) - Hardcover

[The volume] is concerned with the practice of interpretive archaeology on historical period sites, and how approaches differ  between the Americas and the British Isles...the organization of this book, which presents one paper from either side of the Atlantic for each theme, allows for comparisons of approaches and ideas. Herein lies the strength of the volume: it is a composite piece, both self-reflective and critical....Together, these chapters demonstrate various challenges, in addition to the importance of developing a context-specific archaeological framework for site selection. This call for contextual research is furthered by Beaudry, who argues in her chapter that the experience of women cannot be wholly determined through the identification of 'female' objects, such as thimbles and bodkins. Her approach thereby challenges the use of norms when making archaeological interpretations...

Beaudry and Symonds' collection is a very readable, well-structured volume, and represents the potential of collaborative transnational research for understanding the recent past.
Katherine Fennelly, Post-Medieval Archaeology, 42/2, 2012

This volume is based on a session at a 2005 Society for Historical Archaeology meeting. The organizers assembled historical archaeologists from the UK and the US, whose work arises out of differing intellectual traditions. The authors exchange ideas about what their colleagues have written, and construct dialogues about theories and practices that inform interpretive archaeology on either side of the Atlantic, ending with commentary by two well-known names in interpretive archaeology.