"The perseverance and creativity of people subjected to terrible adversities in the past provide heartening instances of individual and cultural accomplishments. Archaeologists are privileged to uncover and honor the material traces of those past moments."
- Chris Fennell, Crossroads and Cosmologies, 2007

Fort Joseph Archaeology Project Archaeology of Graveyards Historical Landscapes of Philidelphia Mount Lowe Archeology Utah Archaeology Project Westpoint Foundry Archaeology Project

Welcome to the Society for Historical Archaeology

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Welcome to sha.org, the official website of the Society for Historical Archaeology. Historical Archaeology is the study of the material remains of past societies that also left behind documentary and oral histories. This subfield of archaeology studies the emergence, transformation, and nature of the Modern World.

What is Historical Archaeology?

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Historical Archaeology is the study of post-prehistoric cultures that uses physical remains, oral and historical sources, and a range of multidisciplinary techniques to study the human condition. Historical archaeologists are trained in the fields of anthropology and history and tend to focus on the migrations, contacts, and changes of various cultures thoughout the world over the past 500 years.
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2013 Conference in Leicester: Paper Submission Website Now Online!!

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SHA 2013: 46th Annual Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom January 9-12, 2013
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Check out our Publications

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early european perspectives from historical archaeology unlocking the past