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.

Table of Contents:
List of FiguresList of TablesIntroduction: The Importance of British Material Culture to Historical Archaeologies of the Nineteenth CenturyAlasdair Brooks1. At the Center of the Web: Later Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Ceramics from Huntingdon Town Centre in an International ContextAlasdair Brooks, Aileen Connor, and Rachel Clarke2. Containers and Teapots: Archaeological Evidence for the Exported Wares of the Caledonian Pottery, Rutherglen, and Its Role in Glasgow’s Ceramic International Trade and IndustryChris Jarrett, Morag Cross, and Alistair Robertson3. “A Trifling Matter”?: State Branding on Stoneware Bottles, 1812–1834Jennifer Basford4. Uncovering and Recovering Cleared Galloway: The Role of Documents in Rural Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Lowland ScotlandC. Broughton Anderson5. The Fall of Big Hair: Hair Curlers as Evidence of Changing FashionsCarolyn L. White6. Food as Material Culture in a Nineteenth-Century Ecclesiastical Community, Worcester, EnglandRichard Thomas7. “Perfection and Economy”: Continuity and Change in Elite Dining Practices, ca. 1780–1880Annie Gray8. Material Culture in Miniature: The Historical Archaeology of Nineteenth-Century Miniature ObjectsRalph Mills9. Artifacts of Mortuary Practice: Industrialization, Choice, and the IndividualHarold Mytum10. “Home”-Made: Exploring the Quality of British Domestic Goods in Nineteenth-Century Urban AssemblagesPenny Crook11. Shadows after Sunset: Imperial Materiality and the Empire’s Lost ThingsJames SymondsContributorsIndex