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Utopian and intentional communities have dotted the American
landscape since the colonial era, yet only in recent decades have
archaeologists begun analyzing the material culture left behind by
these groups. The case studies in this volume use archaeological
evidence to reveal how these communities upheld their societal
ideals - and how some diverged from them in everyday life.
Surveying settlement patterns, the built environment, and even the
smallest artifacts such as tobacco pipes and buttons, Stacy
Kozakavich explores groups including the Shakers, the Harmony
Society, the Moravians, the Ephrata Cloister, the Oneida community,
Brook Farm, Mormon towns, the Llano del Rio colony, and the Kaweah
colony. She urges researchers not to dismiss these communal
experiments as quaint failures but to question how the lifestyles
of the people in these groups are interpreted for visitors today.
She reminds us that there is inspiration to be found in the unique
ways these intentional communities pursued radical social goals.
Reconstructing the past of intentional communities from across the
United StatesUtopian and intentional communities have dotted the
American landscape since the colonial era, yet only in recent
decades have archaeologists begun analyzing the material culture
left behind by these groups. This volume includes discussions of
the Shakers, the Harmony Society, the Moravians, the Oneida
community, Brook Farm, and Mormon towns. Also featured is an
expanded case study of California's late nineteenth-century Kaweah
Colony, offering a new perspective on approaches to the study of
utopian societies. Surveys of settlement patterns, the built
environment, and even the smallest artifacts such as tobacco pipes
and buttons are used to uncover what daily life was like in these
communities. Archaeological evidence reveals how these communities
upheld their societal ideals. Shakers, for example, constructed
homes with separate living quarters for men and women, reflecting
the group's commitment to celibacy. On the other hand, some
communities diverged from their principles, as evidenced by the
presence of a key and coins found at Kaweah, indicating private
property and a cash economy despite claims to communal and
egalitarian practices. Stacy Kozakavich argues archaeology has much
to offer in the reconstruction and interpretation of community
pasts for the public. Material evidence provides information about
these communities free from the underlying assumptions, positive or
negative, that characterize past interpretations. She urges
researchers not to dismiss these communal experiments as quaint
failures but to question how the lifestyles of the people in these
groups are interpreted for visitors today. She reminds us that
there is inspiration to be found in the unique ways these
intentional communities pursued radical social goals.
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