Archaeologies of Rules and Regulation presents case studies drawn from across Europe and the United States, exploring the use of archaeological evidence in understanding the relationship between rules, lived experience, and social identity.
How can we study the impact of rules on the lives of past people using archaeological evidence? To answer this question, Archaeologies of Rules and Regulation presents case studies drawn from across Europe and the United States. Covering areas as diverse as the use of space in a nineteenth-century U.S. Army camp, the deposition of waste in medieval towns, the experiences of Swedish migrants to North America, the relationship between people and animals in Anglo-Saxon England, these case studies explore the use of archaeological evidence in understanding the relationship between rules, lived experience, and social identity.
"This is a high-quality and far-ranging, ?dense and rich, edited collection with subject matter spanning 1500 years of historical archaeological research from Northern, Western and Central Europe together with two North American chapters. As such, it constitutes a great achievement by four academics working collaboratively and drawing upon their very different geographical, chronological, and thematic expertise." ? Archaeological Journal
"This wide-ranging collection of substantive case studies does demonstrate the central importance of rules in shaping human behavior, social hierarchies, and change, although I think few archaeologists would question this proposition. One of its main contributions is shining a spotlight on the explicit study of rules and regulations. This is an emphasis that derives from particular social theories, but the volume and its authors offer many new insights that will be of interest to all historical archaeologists." ? Historical Archaeology
"The impact of rules on the archaeological record has been the focus of many scholars. This volume provides a solid theorized overview of the theme, offering an extensive biography of previous works." ? Charlotte Newman, English Heritage
