Drawing on studies covering the period 1500 AD to the present, this volume explores the archaeology of the period in which modern nationalism developed. While most previous research has focused on how governments and other institutions manipulate archaeology for ideological reasons, the contributors to The Country Where My Heart Is look at what material artifacts can reveal about the rise and fall of national identities in the modern world. Approaching the topic from a broad international perspective, this volume features case studies from northwestern and Central Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Americas. Contributors show how shared social identities engaged with national identities in these regions as modern nation-states first began to emerge.

Brings together over thirty of the leading scholars in Post Medieval archaeology and examines how this relatively new discipline has developed and where it is going. The impetus for this volume lies in the expansion of interest in Post Medieval archaeology in university, commercial, and voluntary sectors. The study of Post Medieval archaeology is a relatively new discipline but, within archaeology as a whole, it represents one of the fastest growing areas of study. Archaeologists seek to avoid the fragmentation of a still small discipline into subfields such as pre-1750 post-medieval archaeology, post-1750 industrial archaeology, or the incorporation of theory as somehow outside of the purview of the work of the older organisations. This important and timely volume brings together articles that consider the commonalties between approaches as well as the unique contributions made by members of each organisation towards the study of the material heritage of the post-1550 period. The chapters in the volume derive from a well-attended three day conference held at the University of Leicester in April 2008 and sponsored by the Society for Post-medieval Archaeology, the Association for Industrial Archaeology, and the Irish Post-Medieval Archaeology Group. The aim of the discussion-focused conference was to foster enhanced understanding and cooperation between the organisations and their approaches; with in-depth consideration of the future of the broader field of historical archaeology. The volume will bring the debatefrom the conference to a wider academic, professional, and vocational audience and, it is anticipated, will act as a benchmark by which future development will be judged.

Britain was the industrial and political powerhouse of the nineteenth century-the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution and the center of the largest empire of the time. With its broad imperial reach-and even broader indirect influence-Britain had a major impact on nineteenth-century material culture worldwide. Because British manufactured goods were widespread in British colonies and beyond, a more nuanced understanding of those goods can enhance the archaeological study of the people who used them far beyond Britain's shores. However, until recently archaeologists have given relatively little attention to such goods in Britain itself, thereby missing what is often revealing and useful contextual information for historical archaeologists working in countries where British goods were consumed while also leaving significant portions of Britain's own archaeological record poorly understood. The Importance of British Material Culture to Historical Archaeologies of the Nineteenth Century helps fill these gaps, through case studies demonstrating the importance and meaning of mass-produced material culture in Britain from the birth of the Industrial Revolution (mid-1700s) to early World War II. By examining many disparate items-such as ceramics made for export, various goods related to food culture, Scottish land documents, and artifacts of death-these studies enrich both an understanding of Britain itself and the many places it influenced during the height of its international power.