Mapping the Social Worlds of Shell Midden Archaeology in Massachusetts

Abstract

When reconstructing regional histories within American archaeology, understanding the complexities of professional and avocational social circles is a critical and necessary undertaking. As a case study, I introduce several social circles that impacted shell midden archaeology in Massachusetts during the 19 th and 20 th centuries. Here I consider how principles from Social Network Analysis (SNA) and Ingold's concepts of meshworks and wayfaring shed light on, and are even complicated by, these historical examples.