The Past in Contemporary Society: Then, Now

Peter Fowler

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2002
• eBook ISBN: 9781134910458
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Archaeology
• Index: Social Sciences

Changes or innovations which threaten `our heritage' arouse great hostility in those who want to preserve the past in its entirity.`The heritage' has become a commodity, a device to sell everything from biscuits to country houses. Fowler skilfully examines the present relationship between the past and the present, analysing the manner in which we mould and interpret the past to fit our current needs. He assesses the influence of our heritage in the last decade of the 20th century, and with a wide range of examples judges the consequences of the increasing pressures of the heritage industry. As well as a diagnosis of where the past is being misused, he provides prescriptions for responsible development, and a thoughtful interpretation of a common past. As well as addressing the needs of the professional involved in the heritage industry he also considers the consumer - all those who visit museums, enjoy a historic site or an art exhibition, or who simply dislike the hijacking of our common heritage by commercial or vested interests.

Index

Abbotsbury, Dorset 37

academic research, see scholarship

Acropolis, Athens, Greece 97

Adam and Eve 4

adventure centres 63; ancient monuments used as 98

advertising, past used by 42, 55, 58–9, 69, 148, 166

agricultural depression 41, 66; land use 96–7, 141; way of life 41–2

Agriculture Act 1986 105

agriculture, late prehistoric 120; post World War Two 85

air photographs 19, 85, 86, 96

Alnwick, Northumb 54

Alps, the 14

Altarnum Nine Stones, Cornwall 98

Alton Towers, Staffs 33, 133–4

amateur, the 110, 117; see also archaeologists and volunteers

America, ‘discovery’ of 44; North 56, 134

American, anti-British feeling 29; connection 45

ancestor-worship 57–8

Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 71, 83, 87, 95

ancient monuments 9–10, 68–9, 71, 94, 95–6, 101–2, 143; ‘creation’ of 152, 166; damage to 71, 96, 98; are dangerous 98; drilling for oil nearby 98; drug-smoking at 72; earn their keep 96; football/cricket played on 97; reused for agricultural purposes 97; used as public toilets 72;

see also archaeological sites and Scheduled Ancient Monuments

Anglo-Saxon charters 105–6

Angus, Scotland 123

anniversaries for celebration 31–3, 44–5, 47, 58, 71

Anstee, Patrick 107–8

antiques, portable 82, 83; see also collectables and collecting the past

Arbor Low, Derbys 69

archaeological research 116, 130, 147, 162, 167;

see also scholarship

Archaeological Resource Centre, York 91, 116, 145

archaeological sites 7, 16, 1...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of illustrations
• Acknowledgements
• Abbreviations and author’s note
• Preface
• Past introductions
• Pasts with people
• Past workings
• Past projections
• Epilogue?
• Bibliographical note
• Index