Archaeological Study of Rural Capitalism and Material Life

• Theory, Methods, and Historical Context.- Interpretive Theory and Methods.- History of the Nicholas Gibbs Extended Family.- The Gibbs Farmstead.- Archaeology and Material Life.- Archaeological Investigations at the Gibbs Site.- Identifying Continuity and Change in the Domestic Landscape.- Diachronic Trends in Consumerism and the Standard of Living.- Time Sequence Analysis.- Foodways Among the Gibbs Family.- A Southern Appalachian Farm Family Reconsidered.

From the reviews: "In many respects this is an impressive and groundbreaking study. I have read very few other analyses that have so effectively used 'unremarkable' farmsteads to say something remarkable about historical processes in the U.S. Groover's method of time sequence analysis is promising and worthy of further use and consideration. In sum, this is an important new book in historical archaeology." (Judith A. Bense, Journal of Anthropological Research, 60, 2004) "...this study is an effective contribution to site-based analysis, and shows how the particulars of one unremarkable farmstead can contribute to wider issues of interpretation." (Harold Mytum, Post-Medieval Archaeology) "The theoretical structure and analytical methodology of historical archaeology has clearly evolved over the past four decades. Mark Groover's rich study of the German-American Gibbs family farmstead in Knox County, Tennessee, is an example of the detailed application of current theoretical and methodological concepts to the interpretation of this site. Groover produces an extremely fine-grained temporal analysis of the Gibbs farmstead and identifies several trends and patterns in economic activity and material culture." (Cliff Boyd, The Journal of Appalachian Studies)