The Archaeology of American Mining reviews the origins, development, and current state of the archaeology of mining in the United States. Other archaeologists and heritage preservation specialists performed much of the research that Paul White highlights and synthesizes, including Robert Heizer and others at Sutter's Mill, California; workers associated with the Historic American Engineering Record at the Quincy Mine, Michigan, and the Kennecott Mine, Alaska; and David B. Landon and Timothy A. Tumberg at the Ohio Trap Rock Mine site, Michigan. White also discusses his own findings, as appropriate: survey at a mine in south-central Alaska to explore underground mining landscapes, gravity stamps in California, mining wastes, and Shoshone dispossession by mining at Warm Spring, California. Examples are almost exclusively from the current United States, but the author also mentions mining in the Yukon, Chile, and Spitzbergen.
White's focus is archaeological research at historic mine sites. The first chapter, “American Mining in Three Acts,” reviews the historic development of mining in the United States from precontact times through 2016. The second chapter, “Historical Archaeologists and American Mining,” explores the development of the archaeology of mining as a subdiscipline of industrial archaeology.
“Roaring Camp and Company Town” looks at the physical remains of mining settlements. White discusses supply networks by looking at settlements and abandoned supplies along the late nineteenth-century Chilkoot Trail from southeastern Alaska to the Yukon Territory and at the structure of camps through consideration of the correlation between social attainment and residential location on a steep hillside at Virginia City, Nevada. In relation to company towns, he describes the different settlement characteristics of Anglo, Mexican, and Native American townsites at Ajo, Arizona, and evidence of resistance to imposed order and paternalism through modifications that coal miners made to company-supplied double houses in Helvetia, Pennsylvania.
White explores the material evidence of ethnic and social identities, unions, health, and gender in a chapter entitled “Meeting the Miners.” In “Into the Mines,” he explains that the operative scale of mines has generally increased and that reliance on labor has decreased through time because of increasing mechanization. The physical characteristics of mines from the same period may vary significantly because new technology does not always replace old technology. “Into the Mines” also reviews frauds and misuses of laws in mining and how mining claims and practices have been factors in Native American land loss.
“Mining In Memoriam” considers mining monuments, commemorative places, and attractions and the effects that modern simulations, art, and films have had on public perceptions of past and current mining practices. It also discusses how mining remediation efforts can have negative effects on historic preservation. White notes that the immense spatial scale of modern mining and the effects of mining practices on archaeological sites pose considerable challenges for archaeology.
The book's cover is attractive, and photos and figures augmenting the text are clear, relevant, and interesting. My one criticism is that the book could use a glossary, in addition to White's explanations and definitions of mining terms within the text. Mining has a rich and complex vocabulary that includes words and phrases such as adit, arrastra, drift, glory hole, stamp mill, and headframe, which are not very familiar to readers without detailed knowledge about mining. Some readers of the book may already know mining terminology, but many may want to have a dictionary handy.
From my perspective as both an archaeologist and the director of a museum focused on mining, the book is very readable and engaging. White certainly possesses detailed knowledge of both archaeology and mining. He understands that mining is important to our social and economic history and to the maintenance of the quality of life enjoyed by everyone in the United States. Archaeologists are contesting both romanticized views and caricatures of mining that lead to public conceptions and misconceptions by assessing the material legacies of the industry. In general, many members of the public consider mining to be dangerous and low paying, environmentally destructive, and technologically unadvanced. In reality, modern mining is much less dangerous than forestry, fishing, and other critical industries; pays relatively well; utilizes modern technology, such as drones, lasers, and GPS; and requires that reclamation plans be submitted before government regulators will issue permits. The Archaeology of American Mining reviews the physical evidence of historic mining in America during the last 500 years, and it highlights important factors that help to explain current public attitudes toward mining.
