Meaning and Ideology in Historical Archaeology

1. Introduction. 2. An Anatomy of Ideology. What Is Ideology? What Does Ideology Do? Ideology and the Construction of Social Identity. Ideology, Social Identity, and Style. Style and the Semiotics of Social Identity. 3. An Introduction to Armidale. A History of Armidale and New England. Colonial Armidale. Ideology Discussion. 4. Materials and Methods. Selection of Place. Selection of Structures. Selection of Variables. Variables Relating to Social Context. Variables Relating to Style. Variables Relating to Geographical Context. Variables Relating to Use. Data Collection. Location of Structures. Analysis. Biases in the Database. Limitations of the Study. 5. The Semiotics of Social Position. The Contexts of Production for Style in Armidale. Discussion. 6. Relations of Meaning and Relations of Membership. Creating Social Identity. Discussion. 7. Style in Space. The Contexts of Interpretation for Style in Armidale. The Space of Style. The Power of Style. 8. Styles of Ideology. Ideology from Artifacts. Ideology and Public Identity. The Material Constraints to Studying Ideology. Discussion. 9. Investments of Meaning. Context and Identity. Stylishness. Directions of Emulation. Dominant Ideology. Scales of Ideology. Persistence. The Commodification of Heritage. A Historical Archaeology of Ideology. Appendix: List of Structures. References. Index.

`The study of capitalism challenges archaeologists and thus it is impressive when a scholar succesfully rises to this challenge. Meaning and Ideology in Historical Archaeology meets this challenge and should be read by any scholar interested in understanding capitalism.' American Antiquity, 66:1 (2001) `Heather Burke has produced a very important, perhaps landmark study using archaeological evidence to interpret and understand the evolving boundaries of class and status in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. I recommend this book to all historical archaeologists interested in issues of class structure, ideology, material culture or reading building fabric.' Australasian Historical Archaeology, 18 (2000) `This volume is a welcome addition to the study of architecture from archaeological perspective ... this body of data from the rural city of Armidale will provide useful comparative material for similar studies undertaken in other former British colonies, for example, in the United States and South Africa. ' Historical Archaeology, 35:2 (2001)