This book is the outcome of the first joint conference of the two country's foremost societies devoted to the archaeological study of the early-modern and modern worlds. It discusses the progress of industrialization and its impact upon modern society.

'Industrial' and 'post-medieval' archaeology have traditionally been seen as two separate disciplines, with different roots and very different intellectual interests, thus separating production from consumption and leaving the study of non-industrial aspects of 19th and 20th century society in a disciplinary no-man's land. This volume, emanating from a joint conference of the Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology and the Association for Industrial Archaeology held in Bristol in 1999, aims to break down the barriers, both cultural and chronological, between the two disciplines. Twenty-three papers from Britain and western Europe address the relationships between production and consumption, the contribution of archaeology to a period so rich in historical sources, the nature of historical archaeology, and the role both of industrialisation itself and of its material record in the development of our own society.

What is historical archaeology? What are the challenges facing archaeologists looking at the remains of the last 500 years? What are the issues for archaeology itself in today's rapidly-changing economic and political circumstances? How can we develop a uniquely European historical archaeology? The result of a conference in 2009, Across the North Sea contains 24 papers from 28 leading archaeologists, historians, curators and heritage managers from Britain and Denmark, and explores a wide range of issues - including the development of the discipline and current practice in both countries, together with a range of case studies, and discussion of future directions. This fascinating book provides an essential guide for anyone wanting to understand the evolving discipline of historical archaeology in Britain, Denmark and the North Sea region.