Historical archaeology has largely focused on the study of early military sites and homes of upper class. Research on lower classes was viewed as a supplement to local histories documenting political, military and financial leaders of the 18th and 19th centuries.

An Archaeological Study of Rural Capitalism and Material Life will be of interest to historical archaeologists, cultural anthropologists, social historians, and historical sociologists, especially researchers studying the influence of globalization and economic development upon rural regions like Appalachia.

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Part I: Theory, Methods, and Historical Context. 1. Introduction. 2. Interpretive Theory and Methods. World Systems Theory. Temporal Scales and Household Dynamics. Braudel and the Annales School. Family Cycles and Household Succession. Linking Interpretive Theory to the Material Record. 3. History of the Nicholas Gibbs Extended Family. The Nicholas Gibbs Family and Farmstead. From the Palatinate to Pennsylvania, 1733-1760s. The Nicholas Gibbs Household in North Carolina, 1760s-1791. The Nicholas Gibbs Household in Knox County, 1792-1817. The Daniel Gibbs Household, 1817-1852. The Rufus Gibbs Household, 1852-1905. The John Gibbs Household, 1905-1913. The Tenant Period, 1913-1986. The Nicholas Gibbs Historical Society, 1986-Present. Household Cycles for the Gibbs Family, 1764-1913. Summary of Household Succession. 4. The Gibbs Farmstead: Agricultural Production and Economic Strategies. Appalachia's Ridge and Valley Province: Physical and Cultural Geography. Infrastructure Development in the Study Area. Diachronic Trends in Land Ownership. Information Sources and Analysis Methods. Rural Infilling. Disparity in Land Ownership. Agricultural Production Trends: A Diachronic Analysis. The South. East Tennessee and Knox County. The Gibbs Farmstead. Recovering Mind: Identifying Subsistence and Surplus Producers. Part II: Archaeology and Material Life. 5. Archaeological Investigations at the Gibbs Site. Field Research Design. Site Excavation Areas. 6. Identifying Continuity and Change in the Domestic Landscape. Diachronic Trends: Midden and Maintenance Decline. Households and Archaeological Features. Domestic Architecture, Landscape Change, and Household Succession. Regional and National Architectural Trends. 7. Diachronic Trends in Consumerism and the Standard of Living. The Development of Consumerism. Consumerism and Newspaper Advertisements. The Standard of Living: Probate Inventory Analysis. Summary. 8. Time Sequence Analysis: Exploring Household Dynamics. Functional Analysis. Time Sequence Analysis. Systematic Site Survey and Testing. The Total Artifact Assemblage. Sheet Midden. Feature 16, The Smokehouse Pit Cellar. Summary. 9. Foodways Among the Gibbs Family. Diet and Faunal Remains. Ceramics and Foodways. Minimum Vessel Analysis. Time Sequence Analysis. Ceramic Use by Households. The Redware Assemblage. Development of Redware Potteries in East Tennessee. Redware Analysis Results. Summary. 10. A Southern Appalachian Farm Family Reconsidered. Appendixes. References. Index.