The Archaeology of Utopian and Intentional Communities

Archaeologists have recently begun analyzing the material culture left behind by utopian and intentional communities in the United States, including the Shakers, Harmony Society, Moravians, Oneida community, Brook Farm, and Mormon towns. Evidence from surveys, the built environment, and artifacts reveals how these communities upheld their societal ideals, such as celibacy in the Shakers and communal and egalitarian practices in the Kaweah Colony. Stacy Kozakavich argues that archaeology has much to offer in reconstructing and interpreting community pasts, providing information about these communities free from underlying assumptions and inspiring us to question how their lifestyles are interpreted for visitors today.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 298 pages
Publication date: 14 February 2023
Publisher: University Press of Florida

Since the colonial era, utopian and intentional communities have dotted the American landscape, but only in recent decades have archaeologists begun to analyze the material culture they left behind. This volume includes discussions of the Shakers, the Harmony Society, the Moravians, the Oneida community, Brook Farm, and Mormon towns. An expanded case study of California's late nineteenth-century Kaweah Colony offers a new perspective on approaches to the study of utopian societies.

Surveys of settlement patterns, the built environment, and even the smallest artifacts, such as tobacco pipes and buttons, are used to uncover what daily life was like in these communities. Archaeological evidence reveals how these communities upheld their societal ideals. Shakers, for example, constructed homes with separate living quarters for men and women, reflecting the group's commitment to celibacy. On the other hand, some communities diverged from their principles, as evidenced by the presence of a key and coins found at Kaweah, indicating private property and a cash economy despite claims to communal and egalitarian practices.

Stacy Kozakavich argues that archaeology has much to offer in the reconstruction and interpretation of community pasts for the public. Material evidence provides information about these communities free from the underlying assumptions, positive or negative, that characterize past interpretations. She urges researchers not to dismiss these communal experiments as quaint failures but to question how the lifestyles of the people in these groups are interpreted for visitors today. She reminds us that there is inspiration to be found in the unique ways these intentio.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780813068978