An Archaeology of the English Atlantic World, 1600 – 1700

This book is the first book-length treatment of Modern-World Historical Archaeology. It includes a compendium of information about the archaeology of the English seventeenth century by examining sites in England, the United States, Ireland, and Africa. The writings of seventeenth-century authors support the main contentions of the analysis.

An Archaeology of the British Atlantic World, 1600–1700 is the first book to apply the methods of modern-world archaeology to the study of the seventeenth-century English colonial world. Charles E. Orser, Jr explores a range of material evidence of daily life collected from archaeological excavations throughout the Atlantic region, including England, Ireland, western Africa, Native North America, and the eastern United States. He considers the archaeological record together with primary texts by contemporary writers. Giving particular attention to housing, fortifications, delftware, and stoneware, Orser offers new interpretations for each type of artefact. His study demonstrates how the archaeological record expands our understanding of the Atlantic world at a critical moment of its expansion, as well as to the development of the modern, Western world.