Introduction to the Historical Archaeology of Powered Cultural Landscapes

This article starts by defining the term “powered cultural landscapes” and then provides a brief history of research on this topic in historical archaeology, starting with the settlement pattern paradigm that did not use the word “landscape,” and progressing to the landscape paradigm and the subsequent increasing use of the word “power” in cultural landscape research. Topics of research initially addressed landscape power dynamics between classes, followed by racial, ethnic, and finally gender power dynamics. Frameworks for analyzing power dynamics have progressed from the Marxian domination and resistance framework for class and racial power dynamics, followed by feminist analyses of male domination, to the recent development of a feminist inclusive heterarchical model of power dynamics.     

Visible Charity: The Archaeology, Material Culture, and Landscape Design of New York City's Municipal Almshouse Complex, 1736–1797

How did New York City's eighteenth century almshouse (1736–1797) handle homelessness and poverty? Historians have been debating whether the conditions were familial and supportive, or mean-spirited and intolerable. An analysis of the archaeology, artifacts, architecture, landscape design, primary sources, and secondary sources associated with the New York City almshouse complex suggest some answers.     

Landscapes of Power: Middle Class and Lower Class Power Dynamics in a New York Charitable Institution

Archaeological and historical research at Sailors’ Snug Harbor uncovered material on this landscape of power. Sailors’ Snug Harbor, located in New York City, was established in 1831 as a private institution for retired and injured seamen who were economically impoverished. In the nineteenth century, between 400 and 800 seamen lived at Snug Harbor, supported by a director (called the governor), an assistant director (the steward), a doctor, a chaplain, and a large support staff. There were rivalries between the middle class administrators of institution especially during the reign of Thomas Melville (1867–84). Because over twenty percent of the retired seamen were former ship captains, in addition to numerous officers such as first mates, there were intense power dynamics between Melville (a former clipper ship captain) and the retired seamen (inmates). The design of the buildings and grounds, the archaeological material, and the primary source documents reveal middle class and lower class power dynamics that existed in this closed community.     

Introduction and Historical Context for the Archaeology of Institutions of Reform. Part I: Asylums

This introduction discusses the western cultural context that connects the following three articles of site-specific research on the Adelaide Destitute Asylum in South Australia, the Ross Female Factory (prison) in Tasmania and the Magdalen Asylum in Philadelphia. These institutions are a few of the many types of nineteenth century asylums and prisons. Although some research issues are raised the purpose of this introduction is to provide a general historical context for the different research designs which are presented in the articles. While this introduction provides a largely ungendered historical background from ungendered sources, the companion feminist commentary following the articles addresses the gendered historical context and the feminist issues in the articles.