Social Change in 19th-Century Rural Ireland and the Archaeology of the Narrow-Gauge Railway: The Case of Munster

Abstract

Railways are unusual archaeological entities. They lasted, in many cases, only for a short length of time, and in their locomotive-hauled form are of quite recent origin. There is a signifi cant amount of documentary information available, making it well-nigh impossible, as well as inadvisable, to rely solely on the extant material remains. The fact that later incarnations of some of these lines remain in existence today and are to a degree part of our lives means that we possess preconceived notions about rail travel. Railways have featured heavily in literature and art, as well as having infl uenced the development of communication networks, politics and social issues. All of these combined, aside from drawing our awareness to the magnitude of the importance of railways, make it difficult to look at them from an archaeological perspective, or to see what an archaeological perspective can bring to the study of railways. This paper examines what an archaeological study of the narrow-gauge railways of Munster (the south-west of Ireland) can contribute to an understanding of broader patterns of social change in 19th-century rural Ireland.     

Lightening the Load: Five 19th-Century River Lighters at Erith on the River Thames, UK

Five early-19th-century Thames lighters, up to 22 m long, in an excellent state of preservation, were recorded during pre-construction archaeological works. The lighters had been used as the main structural elements in a mid-19th-century river-wall. The lighters and river-wall are described, and aspects of the construction discussed. The craft exemplify utilitarian trends in early industrial age boatbuilding, and were essential in the development of the international port. Although comparatively recent in date, details of their 'bottom-up' construction are not well known.
© 2009 The Authors     

Percival,Vickers & Co. Ltd: The Archaeology of a 19th-Century Manchester Flint Glass Works

Abstract

The Percival, Vickers & Co. Ltd glass works was amongst the largest glass manufactories in Manchester, and formed one of a regionally significant group of 19th-century glass works in the Ancoats district of the city. All of these works have since been demolished, and the paucity of surviving physical and documentary evidence is in stark contrast to the former importance of the city's glass-making industry. The Percival, Vickers site was recently subjected to a detailed archaeological investigation ahead of redevelopment, providing a unique opportunity to study the buried remains of a 19th-century glass works. In particular, variation in the design of the furnaces provided evidence for the technological development of the later 19th century, which has not otherwise been documented. Additionally, some 110kg of glass fragments recovered from the site furnished important evidence for the composition of 19th-century glass, although the results are beyond the scope of the present paper, which focuses on the documented history, structural, and technological elements of the site.     

Bihar,California, and the US Midwest: the early radicalization of Jayaprakash Narayan

Jayaprakash Narayan (JP) is often remembered as a ‘Gandhian Socialist’ because of his explicit rejection of revolutionary Marxism in and embrace of Gandhian principles in the 1950s and 1960s. However, the easy mapping of a ‘Marx to Gandhi’ trajectory in JP's political life minimizes the complexity of his political journey, in which cultural nationalism and internationalist Marxian thought were intertwined. This article, based on JP's 1972 interview with Hari Dev Sharma of the Nehru Memorial Library and Museum, investigates his early radicalization in the 1920s, and examines the uneven development of his political consciousness in that context. As such, it makes a specific contribution to the historical record of Indian revolutionaries, bringing JP into that story and suggesting that his later political turns may have had as much to do with the crises of global revolutionary thought and organization in the interwar period as with his own ideas and beliefs.     

In Search of the Social: Steamboats, Square Wheels, Reindeer and Other Things

This paper examines the concept of the ‘social,’ particularly from an archaeological perspective, and explores how it relates to the ways in which we seek to understand the processes of technological innovation and change. It is demonstrated that the concept ‘social’ is far from well defined and that enquiry is bedevilled by artificial polarization between subject-centred approaches and object-centred particularism. Through the medium of early United States steamboat technology a different approach is forged through the melding of people and things with the idea of viewing artefacts as active social actors along with people. Ultimately, it is argued that maritime archaeologists should be more bullish in their approaches to material things—instead of adopting social theories ‘wholesale,’ we should insist that they include the things we study: boats, material objects, people, artefacts, landscapes and animals.     

Excavating the 18th- and 19th-Century Urban Flour Mill: the Example of the Archaeological Investigations at the Former J.A. Symes Factory Site,Highbridge Road,Barking

Abstract

The area occupied by the former J.A. Symes match factory, Highbridge Road, Barking, was once home to a large steam- and water-powered flourmill. The mill was originally driven by the tidal flow of the River Roding, prior to its expansion and gradual conversion to steam. A residential redevelopment, undertaken in spring 2006, provided an opportunity to conduct a developer-funded archaeological investigation, carried out by Pre-Construct Archaeology Ltd. The excavation exposed the partial, multi-phase remains of the mill's below-ground foundations, in particular the evidence for successive power systems. These remains were interpreted with the help of documentary research, demonstrating the complementary nature of these two forms of evidence on an urban industrial site.     

北方移民民俗生活的社会记忆——以晋南移入民村调查为例

山西地处黄土高原东部,位于黄河流域中下游地区,被誉为“中华民族的摇篮”,曾孕育了中华民族的悠久文明。历史上中原汉民族与北方各少数民族发生着冲突与交融,这里是人口流动最为频繁的地区,成为中国北方最重要的移民发生地。明清之际,山西形成了声名远播的“大槐树移民”和“走西口”移民,     

Spaces of Belonging: Home,Culture and Identity in 20th-Century French Autobiography

ALEXANDRE, P., Les Patrons de presse. Quinze ans d'histoires secrètes de la presse écrite en France (1982–1997), Anne Carrière, 1997, 297pp., 120FF., ISBN 2 84337 010 8

ATKIN, N., Pétain, Longman, 1998 238pp., £13.99, ISBN 0 582 07037 6 pbk; £39.99, ISBN 0 582 07036 8 hbk

BALL, R., The French‐speaking World, Routledge, 1997, 228pp., £10.99, ISBN 0 415 12987 7

BATCHELOR, R. E. and CHEBLI‐SAADI, M., French for Marketing: Using French in Media and Communications, CUP, 1997, 350pp., no price indicated, ISBN 0 521 58538 X

BEZBAKH, P., Histoire de la France, vol. 1, Des origines à 1914, vol. 2 De 1914 à nos jours, Larousse, 1997, 512pp. and 570pp., no price indicated, ISBNs 2 03 507141 0 and 2 03 507142 9

B?UF J.‐L., Quinze ans de décentralisation, Problèmes politiques et sociaux, 787 Documentation française, 11 juillet 1997, 45FF., ISSN 0015 9743

BRETON, A. (translated by Mary Anne Caws and Geoffrey T. Harris with notes and introduction by Mary Ann Caws), Communicating Vessels, Bison Books, 1997, 159pp., $12.00, ISBN 0 8032 6135 7

CHARAUDEAU, P., Le discours d'information médiatique. La construction du miroir social, INA‐Nathan, 1997, 286pp., 129F., ISBN 2 978209 190

COHEN, W. B. (ed.), The Transformation of Modern France. Essays in Honor of Gordon Wright, Houghton Mifflin, 1997, 242pp., £15.95 pbk

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WISEMAN B., and GROVES, J., Lévi‐Strauss for Beginners, Icon Books, 1997, 175pp., £8.99, ISBN 1 874166 625     

In pursuit of grandeur: France,colonialism and nationalism in Africa and the South Pacific

Robert Aldrich. The French Presence in the South Pacific, 1842–1940. London, Macmillan, 1990. xii + 387 pp. A$49.95 (cloth).

Francis Terry McNamara. France in Black Africa. Washington, National Defence University, 1989. xx + 289 pp. US$8.00 (paper)

David Robie. Blood on their Banner. Nationalist Struggles in the South Pacific. Leichhardt, Pluto Press Australia, 1989. 310 pp. A$19.95 (paper).     

Social Democracy as a Way of Life: Fellowship and the Socialist Union, 1951-9

This articles considers the political cultural of the SocialistUnion (1951–9), and influential ethical socialist groupin the 1950s' Labour Party. Specifically, it discusses its uniqueintellectual influences and the legacy of its (somewhat different)previous manifestation as the Socialist Vanguard Group (1929–50).Emphasis is placed on the importance of the notion of fellowshipto the politics of this tradition and how this shaped a distinctpolitical and moral identity. Whilst it has been largely overlookedby historians, the Union had a considerable impact on Britishsocialism in the 1950s, through its journal, Socialist Commentary,and through leading members like Allan Flanders and Rita Hinden. ^* Special thanks are due to those former Unionists who sharedtheir experiences with me: Jay Blumler, Annemarie Flanders,and especially, Rene Saran. Thanks also to Peter Alexander,Nina Fishman, John Kelly, Peter Mandler, Mark Minion, Nick Tiratsoo,Hugh Wilford, and Leo Zeilig who read previous drafts of thispiece and to those participants in seminars at the Instituteof Historical Research who have commented on it. I am gratefulto George Bain for allowing me access to his papers at Warwick.     

The Embodiment of Social Life: Bodylore and the Kirkwall Ba' Game (Orkney,Scotland)

This paper focuses on the practice of playing folk football on Christmas Day and New Year's Day in Kirkwall, Orkney, and on the idea of “embodiment” in traditional games. The comparison of empirical data from field research with theoretical interpretations illuminates the embodiment processes in the Kirkwall Ba' game, giving evidence of the intricate interaction between three essential dimensions in bodylore: the individual, society, and the environment.