CHAT 2004 - Contemporary and Historical Archaeology in Theory
University of Leicester, UK
19th-21st November 2004

Dear All,
A reminder that the deadline for abstracts for CHAT 2004 is 31 May 2004.
Expressions of interest and abstracts should be sent as soon as possible
to Dr Sarah Tarlow at Leicester (contact and submission details below).
Keynote papers will be given by Martin Hall (University of Cape Town) and
Nick Saunders (University College London). Initial enquiries from ordinary
delegates are also welcomed. Call for papers below.

Dan Hicks
University of Bristol


CALL FOR PAPERS
CHAT 2004 (Contemporary and Historical Archaeology in Theory)
University of Leicester 19th-21st November 2004

CHAT is a new, British-based, archaeology conference group providing
opportunities for dialogue to develop among researchers in the fields of
later historical archaeology and the archaeology of the contemporary world.

Papers are invited on the following themes:

Conflict
The last 500 years have seen numerous battles and wars. What is the
archaeological contribution to their interpretation? How does scholarly
archaeology of war differ from popular (and profitable) battlefield
archaeology? What ethical and political issues confront the archaeologist
working in this area? What role has archaeology played in uncovering
evidence of very recent conflict, and what issues surround this?
Conflict need not only refer to state-organised large-scale violence. Other
kinds of confrontation between groups and individuals may also be
considered: riots and civil disobedience; national, ethnic or racial
antagonism; class or gender based conflict; insurgents, "terrorists" and
"freedom-fighters" and so on. Papers relating to any aspect of the
archaeology of conflict are welcome.

Industrialising society
The archaeology of industrialisation is about much more than the detailed
recording of steam engines and factory buildings in a narrowly defined
period-based study.  Instead, it is moving beyond period- and process-
based
definitions to a more open, wide ranging, and theoretically informed
sub-discipline within the broader church of historical archaeology.  The
study of industrial society is about the whole range of human actions,
reactions and interactions with the processes associated with
industrialisation. The aim of this session will be to look beyond
industrial
sites and monuments and look at the wider study of later post-medieval
society as it developed from the fifteenth to the twentieth centuries.
Issues tackled may include the archaeologies of consumption, capitalism,
colonialism and international trade; gender and ethnicity in labour
relations; and the meaning of industrial landscapes.  Papers should also
focus on an examination of the social world of the workplace itself -
discussing aspects such as the relationship between 'artisanship' and
'proletarianisation', labour hierarchies and social identity.

Reform
Explicit and discursive reform is a key social and economic aspect of the
period, as well as an important part of its religious and political
history.
How evident is a desire for reform, or the institution of a designed
programme of reform, in the archaeology of the period? Spheres to consider
might include religious practice, social conditions, crime and punishment,
landscape and civic planning and so on.

Please submit abstracts for papers, specifying the session for which you
would like to be considered, by END MAY 2004. Papers are especially
invited from archaeologists outside universities, and from those in the
early stages of their careers. Although we welcome all offers of papers, in
our final selection some preference may be shown for papers dealing with,
or
of relevance to, the archaeology of Britain and Ireland. All papers must
have an interpretative, theoretical or critical dimension and should not be
purely data-presentation. At the same time, papers which do refer to the
interpretation of particular artefacts, landscapes or buildings will be
particularly welcome.

Abstracts as e-mail attachments to Sarah Tarlow ([log in to unmask]) or by post
to
Dr Sarah Tarlow
CHAT 2004
School of Archaeology and Ancient History,
University of Leicester
LE1 7RH