The Reconstructed Past

John H. Jameson, Jr. (editor). 2004. The Reconstructed Past: Reconstructions in the Public Interpretaion of Archaeology and History. Altamira Press, Walnut Creek, California.

The Reconstructed Past is a collection of stories from archaeologists about their experiences in physically reinventing the buildings, villages, and landscapes of the archaeological and historical past. Collected in part from a 1997 symposium at the Society for American Archaeology meetings in Seattle, Washington, the fifteen articles present the varied and complex issues surrounding historic reconstruction and living history farms. An introduction by John Jameson, Jr., and a summary article by Vergil Noble, round out the collection.

Reconstruction is not the normal archaeological experience, for the archaeologist is never the principal investigator of such a project, she or he is a consultant to the project sponsors: a community improvement committee, a historical society, or a federal agency. Authenticity and preservation of the archaeological remains take a necessarily subsidiary role to the aims of developing a depiction of a part of the past that suits the aims of the sponsors: making a safe and enjoyable destination for visitors. All of which is a far more dyspeptic view of the experience than is expressed in this collection. After all, in some respects, are the aims of community improvement and public safety less important than those of archaeology?

Each paper in this volume describes what is called a 'living history' project, from the viewpoint of the consulting archaeologist. Projects reported on here include a broad range of different eras, from the early American history projects of Colonial Williamsburg and Mount Vernon; the Iron Age Castell Henllys site in Wales; the medieval Bede's World in England; the Bronze Age Synagogue and village of Qasrim in the Golan Heights; to the Ironbridge Gorge Industrial revolution site in Shropshire. The tensions between trying to build an authentic reconstruction based on the imprecise and incomplete data recovered from history and archaeology are addressed, as are those between presenting a realistic vision while reminding the visitor that the 'reality' is only an approximation.

Two articles describe the potential of computer simulations of reconstructions, which promise to avoid the pitfalls of site preservation. These are somewhat dated, some of the concerns (i.e., ease of distribution and computer power) are somewhat less important than they were at the time the articles were written. But the costs involved with computer generation of reconstructed buildings is still going to be substantial; and unlike living history rebuilds, cannot easily be accomplished by volunteers.

The Reconstructed Past is a thoughtful, varied collection of articles, and collectively, they address many of the preservation issues which must underlie all of public archaeology. A collection of websites leading to most of the sites discussed in this book is linked in the side bar.