The Importance of Innocuous Things: Prosaic Materiality, Everyday Life, and Historical Archaeology

Abstract

Perhaps the boldest challenge of Historical Archaeology and the Importance of Material Things was its ambitious definition of material culture that could confront a vast range of social questions, but historical archaeologists continue to circumspectly define archaeological data, focus on the prosaic details of everyday life, and avoid anomalous goods. This paper examines the implications of a historical archaeology that answers many of the Ferguson collection’s challenges, taking aim on materiality in broad terms addressing the profound social significance of apparently mundane archaeological material culture and crafting a reflective picture of everyday life and materiality.