As family historians, we study, prod, and poke into what amounts to the official minutiae left by our ancestors. We pay extraordinary attention to the legal documents left by our families. We fuss over their deeds-down to the smallest detail of the directional calls of a tract of land and the names of neighbors whose land may be adjoining our family's land. We study sale and settlement papers for names of people who may have bought something from a deceased ancestor. We fret over why our ancestors may have been excluded from a tax list. But while these documents and personal belongings are critical, they tell only part of the story.

I sometimes wonder if we pay so much attention to the products of our bureaucratic legal system that we neglect other aspects of our ancestors' lives. If we were questioned about our own lives, to what extent would we tell our story through the public and private records we left behind? Is it possible that environmental and material objects are neglected in genealogy?

It is with this sentiment that over the coming year I will explore some of the ways we can learn to look at the world with fresh eyes, with minds inquiring about the physical world experienced by, and left by, our ancestors. In future articles we will talk about other contributions that social sciences such as folk architecture and geography can make in understanding the world our ancestors inhabited.

These articles will identify some of the resources to which you can refer to make yourself more knowledgeable about your ancestors' lives. You will learn how to read the land your family settled and derive ideas about the kinds of people they were. You will learn to observe aspects of their environment with more depth.

In this article, I will discuss basic ideas about historical archaeology. I will also discuss how I have explored the present world to find one of my own grandmother's homes, and point out the benefits of combining historical documents with historical archaeology.

Historical Archaeology and Family History
Despite the richness of the documentary record, there are things we want to know that can not be discovered from the printed page. The daily routine of life and what these people thought about are not the kinds of things anyone would have thought worthy of noting in documents. For example, we know far more about the philosophical underpinnings of Puritanism than we know about what the people ate at mealtimes. But Henry Glassie reminds us of the people of Virginia: "They left no writing, but they did leave all those houses" (Deetz, 5-8). The historical record that can be discovered by archaeological analysis and excavations will supplement and enrich the written records that genealogists dig up.

What is Historical Archaeology?
Historical archaeology is considered a subspecialty of archaeology. The popular view of archaeology brings to mind Raiders of the Lost Ark, Egyptian tombs, and irreverent diggings for arrowheads and other remnants of Native American culture. But these searches for valuable objects do not tell family historians what we want to know about our family's life. Archaeology typically tries to understand what everyday life was like for everyday people, not just for the rich and famous, on special occasions, or during vital life events such as birth, marriage, and death. It is only through study of the day to day events of ordinary people that we will truly gain the information we are seeking.

Archaeology studies past peoples based on objects they left behind. For example, stone axes made thousands of years ago and fine porcelain teacups from the eighteenth century carry messages of their maker and user. The archaeologist's job is to decode and apply these messages to better understand the human experience.

Archaeology also relies to a large extent on excavating sites where a group of people lived and worked. The most common sites include privies, wells, cellars, and trash pits—sites guaranteed to be treasure troves of artifacts left by our ancestors.

While historical archaeology has the same goal as archaeology, there are significant differences that are important to genealogists. First, historical archaeologists primarily study the cultural remains of literate societies that were capable of recording their own history.

Second, because historical archaeologists work with material that is centuries old at most, they are less likely to be involved solely with excavation. The materials of historical archaeology are likely to be surviving above ground. For example, there is no need to detail the architecture of early American houses or farm buildings on the basis of excavated material alone when they still dot the landscape. This is important as historical archaeologists are studying things that genealogists can see and experience also.

Historical sites are visible even before any digging is done. Earthen mounds often indicate collapsed chimneys; large stones may mark a building's wall footings protruding through the sod; and structural remains associated with what is buried often remain standing. There are, of course, exceptions to this rule. There are multiple occupations of a site where one group came and left and another group built on top of earlier people's house. This is particularly true in high-density urban areas.

Archaeology Applied
One example of how historical archaeology enriches our family history is in the study of grave monuments. Archaeologists have used probate records to identify designs of stone carvers and how the headstones related to changing attitudes toward death. A classic study shows that the decline of the head coincides with the decline in orthodox Puritanism. The early part of the 18th century saw the beginnings of great religious revival movements known as the Great Awakening and coinciding with it, the advent of cherubs and the softening of the earlier harsh symbolism on grave markers. The fact that these changes were exhibited in some areas of the country later than others can give us clues about the diffusion of beliefs across the countryside as people migrated and exchanged ideas.

The challenge of applying personally the information I have gathered, emboldened me to search for the house where my great-grandmother was supposed to have been born. I found a photograph, dated 1951, where she stood in front of a log cabin in which she claimed she was born. I had been told it is no longer standing and that the road to the house no longer exists, but this did not discourage me. I located the deed for her father's land and tracked down an early map of the area-the most recent topographical map based on the deed description. I went armed with these documents and my photograph, with the hope, if nothing else, that someone would recognize the place. After locating a long-time resident of the area and following the directions he gave, I found the site.

The chimney still stood, as well as the large stone my grandmother had stood upon in the picture. Imagine my excitement to think that I was on a site where an excavation could actually yield a tool or dish that the family used! An even more touching surprise awaited me when I saw the lovely purple iris planted around the side of the yard. Now I understood a family tradition I thought had only begun with my mother. I had not noticed or thought about these flowers before, but now they carry a special meaning. I know they are part of a much longer tradition of mothers passing these flowers to their daughters in each home they live in-we all have purple iris.

Archaeology and Probate Records
Oftentimes, written records work hand in hand with archaeological study. Some of the most useful sets of written material are probate records because they are recognized by both archaeologists and family historians. The listings of home and property contents can clearly indicate a person's lifestyle, their degree of wealth, and the kinds of activities they engaged in.

Inventories are particularly important. They were taken on a room-by-room basis and, as such, give us an idea of the layout of the house and the ways various rooms were used. Inventories often fall short of what the archaeologist finds important or interesting, so combining them with excavations gives a more detailed and complete picture than either could alone.

One must recognize that the words used in inventories are those commonly used by the people. They constitute what is known as folk taxonomy. If we fail to understand the terminology of the time, the words they use can be misleading. For example, numerous listings of looking glasses in early seventeenth century Plymouth might lead someone to conclude there were a good supply of mirrors. While this is possible, the Oxford English Dictionary notes that a looking glass was common vernacular for a chamber pot. Also, a bedstead was what we now call a bed, and a mattress was once referred to as a bed.

Because the materials studied by historical archaeologists are much more varied and complex, the interpretations of these artifacts must be tempered with other information. For example, museum collections contain a wealth of American artifacts such as ceramics, metalwork, and glassware. Why have these particular objects survived? The question of the factors that favor survival of certain objects and disappearance of others is important to keep in mind. For a variety of reasons, surviving artifacts cannot be taken as necessarily representative of their period. If we relied on museum collections, for example, we might get an impression of a different level of material wealth than was truly the case. This is because most families, as well as museums, save the unusual and valuable over the commonplace. Individuals now and in the past would discard commonplace objects to the trash.

Many of the lands, towns, and buildings around us are products of a world that was experienced by our families long ago. With a little imagination and information, and by combining our knowledge as genealogists with historical archaeology, we will be in a much better position to really see and understand our family's life.

Roseann Reinemuth Hogan holds a Ph.D. in sociology. She has been researching her family since 1978. Her special interests include oral histories and social history. She is the author of Kentucky Ancestry (Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1993).

Works Cited
Deetz, James. In Small Things Forgotten. New York: Anchor Books, 1977.

Frisch-Ripley, Karen. Unlocking the Secrets in Old Photographs. Salt Lake City, Utah: Ancestry, 1991.