A New Archaeology in the New Deal: The Rise of Historical Archaeology in the 1930s (original) (raw)

Historical archaeology – the archaeology of the Modern World – has its disciplinary roots in the historic preservation movement of the United States during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Historical archaeology’s true institutional beginnings, however, are tied to the federally sponsored archaeology projects conducted under the auspices of the New Deal programs of the 1930s. Chief among those projects in terms of the development of historical archaeology in the United States were the 1934-1941 excavations at Jamestown, Virginia, directed by J. C. Harrington. During this critical time in the history of the field, Harrington established some of the fundamental methods and practices used by historical archaeologists today and did much to promote and legitimize the emerging discipline. As a result of these efforts, Harrington is widely recognized as the “founding father” of historical archaeology in the United States.