In a message dated 1/19/01 10:28:36 AM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<< Is it just me, or are historical archaeologists running thin on real
 "historic archaeological" research topics? >>

How is an understanding of religion, ritual, and magic NOT historical
archaeology?  Building upon Dr. Beaudry's comments, religion was an important
dimension of every day life which guided uses of material objects and the
shaping of the built environment. It was (and is) a critical aspect of the
sociohistorical context in which people lived and permeated multiple aspects
of their daily activites.
    The nineteenth century was an extremely tumultuous time, marked by
fluctuating geographical mobility, urbanization, and industrialization.
Productive relations were restructured and traditional patriarchal authority
was questioned.  As individuals were repositioned within the economy,
relationships between employers and workers, men and women, parents and
children were redefined.  Religion was an important mechanism for mediating
these changes and reorganizing daily life (Coontz 1988).
    The cult of domesticity, as one example, was an ideology which structured
gender roles and relations.  It was a belief that women were spiritually
superior to men and were, therefore, charged with the moral education of
children.  These ideas are expressed through architectural elements (Clark
1988; Adams 1990), household furnishings (Lavender 1999), ceramic tablewares
(Wall 1991, 1994), and the organization of space (McMurry 1988; Spain 1992)
-- all of which are visible archaeologically.  Coontz (1988:193) argued that
the cult of true womanhood was a strategy for resisting too complete of a
separation of the work and home.  Consequently, this gender ideology -- with
its foundation in religious beliefs -- was a critical dimension of
nineteenth-century life which profoundly affected the ways in which people
interacted with one another and the material world.
    Another example . . . the Quakers were called by their religion to assist
enslaved African Americans to freedom.  The safe houses along the underground
railroad and the communities established in northern states and Canada have
also been examined archaeologically and are meritorious research arenas in
historical archaeology (Rotman et al. 1997; Smardz 1997; among others).
    Additionally, in tandem with another current thread on the archaeology of
workplaces, corporate paternalism was among the methods of social control
used by factory owners to assure the company's prosperity and emphasized
efficiency, time discipline, and the MORAL behavior of their workers (Gutman
1977; Beaudry and Mrozowski 1987; Leone et al. 1987; Beaudry 1989; Wurst
1991; Shackel 1993; Leone 1999).
    Clearly, these are highly abbreviated presentations of this research and
there are numerous other examples in the literature.  My point is that
understanding religion, ritual, and magic is imperative to understanding life
in the historic period (not to mention prehistory).
Respectfully,
Deborah L. Rotman
Doctoral Candidate
University of Massachusetts-Amherst