This volume seeks to explore the many facets of American life ways as revealed through the retrieval and analysis of material artifacts in the United States from the earliest sites of the Paleo-Indians through the late twentieth century. Papers should focus on the social, economic, and family histories that can be reconstructed in light of artifacts and other evidence gleaned from archaeological excavations.

Of interest are such issues as:

• rituals associated with key life events such as birth, marriage, and death
• social hierarchies among men, women, children, servants, and slaves
• community building; transportation issues from road building to vehicular design to support services for travelers
• building architecture and internal furnishings; businesses such as agriculture, crafts, manufacturing, retail stores, professionals, and the like
• leisure activities
• efforts at domestic reform
• the changing nature of garbage and refuse
• investigations into specific items and what their use reveals about the society in which they are found
• comparisons among different ethnic groups
• interpretations made by museum displays, historical site presentations, and re-enactors.