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Consumer Choice in Historical Archaeology

  • Book
  • © 1987

Overview

Editors:
  1. Suzanne M. Spencer-Wood

    1. Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, Boston, USA

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Table of contents (17 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xvii
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  2. Introduction

    1. Introduction

      • Suzanne M. Spencer-Wood
      Pages 1-24

  3. Eighteenth-through Early Nineteenth-Century Commercial Agricultural Economy

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 25-29
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    2. Ceramics as Indicators of Status and Class in Eighteenth-Century New York

      • Sherene Baugher, Robert W. Venables
      Pages 31-53

    3. Consumer Choices in White Ceramics

      • Suzanne M. Spencer-Wood, Scott D. Heberling
      Pages 55-84

    4. Threshold of Affordability

      • David A. Singer
      Pages 85-99

    5. Vertebrate Fauna and Socioeconomic Status

      • Elizabeth J. Reitz
      Pages 101-119

    6. Plantation Status and Consumer Choice

      • Charles E. Orser Jr.
      Pages 121-137

  4. Mid-Nineteenth-Century Commerce and Industrialization

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 139-142
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    2. Socioeconomic Variation in a Late Antebellum Southern Town

      • W. Stephen McBride, Kim A. McBride
      Pages 143-161

    3. Status Variation in Antebellum Alexandria

      • Steven Judd Shephard
      Pages 163-198

    4. Status Indicators

      • Paul M. Heberling
      Pages 199-216

    5. The Use of Converging Lines of Evidence for Determining Socioeconomic Status

      • Patrick H. Garrow
      Pages 217-231

    6. Nineteenth-Century Households and Consumer Behavior in Wilmington, Delaware

      • Charles H. LeeDecker, Terry H. Klein, Cheryl A. Holt, Amy Friedlander
      Pages 233-259

    7. Adapting to Factory and City

      • Lu Ann De Cunzo
      Pages 261-295

  5. Late Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Urban Sites

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 297-300
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    2. Working-Class Detroit

      • Mark C. Branstner, Terrance J. Martin
      Pages 301-320

    3. Miller’s Indices and Consumer-Choice Profiles

      • Suzanne M. Spencer-Wood
      Pages 321-358

    4. Factors Influencing Consumer Behavior in Turn-of-the-Century Phoenix, Arizona

      • Susan L. Henry
      Pages 359-381

    5. Gravestones

      • Lynn Clark
      Pages 383-395
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Keywords

About this book

Historical archaeology has made great strides during the last two decades. Early archaeological reports were dominated by descriptions of features and artifacts, while research on artifacts was concentrated on studies of topology, technology, and chronology. Site reports from the 1960s and 1970s commonly expressed faith in the potential artifacts had for aiding in the identifying socioeconomic status differences and for understanding the relationships be­ tween the social classes in terms of their material culture. An emphasis was placed on the presence or absence of porcelain or teaware as an indication of social status. These were typical features in site reports written just a few years ago. During this same period, advances were being made in the study of food bone as archaeologists moved away from bone counts to minimal animal counts and then on to the costs of various cuts of meat. Within the last five years our ability to address questions of the rela­ tionship between material culture and socioeconomic status has greatly ex­ panded. The essays in this volume present efforts toward measuring expendi­ ture and consumption patterns represented by commonly recovered artifacts and food bone. These patterns of consumption are examined in conjunction with evidence from documentary sources that provide information on occupa­ tions, wealth levels, and ethnic affiliations of those that did the consuming. One of the refreshing aspects of these papers is that the authors are not afraid of documents, and their use of them is not limited to a role of confirmation.

Editors and Affiliations

  • Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, Boston, USA

    Suzanne M. Spencer-Wood

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Consumer Choice in Historical Archaeology

  • Editors: Suzanne M. Spencer-Wood

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9817-3

  • Publisher: Springer New York, NY

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

  • Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media New York 1987

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-306-42318-5Published: 30 June 1987

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-1-4757-9819-7Published: 05 May 2013

  • eBook ISBN: 978-1-4757-9817-3Published: 29 June 2013

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XVIII, 418

  • Topics: Archaeology

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