Beginning with the early English colonisation of Ireland and Virginia, the international range of contributors in
Archaeology of the British
examine the interplay of objects and identity in Scotland and Wales, regional England, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Cyprus, and Sri Lanka.
Informed by developments in historical archaeology and by postcolonial scholarship, the case-studies in this volume look at the colonists themselves. The evidence draws upon includes vernacular architecture, landscapes, and objects of everyday life.
Archaeologies of the British
makes it clear that Britishness has never been a fixed entity, and that material culture can challenge historical and contemporary understandings of Britishness.