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The Archaeology of Class in Urban America. By Steve Mrozowski.

xvii, 190
pages, illustrated. Cambridge:
University Press, 2006. ISBN 978-0-521-85394-1. £50 (hbk).

Readable in style, this volume is a fascinating and concise analysis of two


communities in the USA —18th-century Newport and 19th-century Lowell
— and through these detailed and absorbing case studies we explore class
in urban America. The volume follows the experiences of real people such
as Mary Tate.
In the introduction Mrozowski sets out why such people enable us ‘to
understand the power of class to influence people’s self images’ (p. xiii).
Using archaeology as a tool to illustrate everyday lives makes people the
central point of the study, rather than the technical aspects of the
research. Archaeology becomes a means of exploring complex lives rather
than an end in itself.

The book begins with a comprehensive and wide-ranging literature


review, providing a backdrop to support the theoretical background. Allied
to this is a robust defence of the methodology employed — allying
multiple data-sets to historical developments of the 18th/19th centuries. It
then moves onto detailed site analysis illustrating the depth of
archaeological evidence underpinning assertions. The range and extent of
evidence is striking. Faunal and chemical analyses are key components of
the research, and are succinctly integrated with other techniques, such as
the painstaking examination of artefact assemblages. Research into the
historical record is extensive, informative and meticulous. The linking of
this wide range of evidence to real people provides an authentic fl avour
of the everyday lives of occupants of
Newport and Lowell.

Through these various approaches a convincing and detailed picture of life


in these
communities begins to emerge. Wonderfully illustrated throughout, the
plans, photographs and charts are relevant and apposite to the arguments
being made. They throw further illumination on the story Mrozowski is
unfolding. It is the successful integration of this multi-faceted approach
that pays dividends in producing this most readable of books.

The volume ends with a chapter that provides a focused conclusion to the
case studies. Revisiting them, Mrozowski draws conclusions and relates
them to the broader theoretical framework. The undertaking is an
important contribution to the further development of the analysis of class
through archaeology. This is an absorbing and enjoyable read, one that
makes you think and appreciate the sheer scale of the project Mrozowski
has undertaken. Although clearly American in content it has echoes of
comparable situations within the United Kingdom, and could be usefully
employed by students of the archaeology of class in Britain. Mrozowski
describes his book as an ‘effort to breathe new meaning into a handful of
lives
long since past’ (p. 157). In this he has been exceptionally successful.

Manchester

Published by Maney Publishing (c) Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology


Post-Medieval Archaeology 44/2 (2010), 431–450

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