the archaeology of american medicine and healthcare

Examining the dynamic histories of medical practice in
the United States through the lens of historical archaeology

In this book,
Meredith Reifschneider synthesizes archaeological research on healthcare and
medicine to show how practices in the United States have evolved since the
nineteenth century. Tracing the areas of medical science and healthcare
professionalization, alternative medicine, healthcare consumerism, and public
health reform, Reifschneider shows how historical archaeology--which draws on information
from the material record, archival sources, historical documents, and
ethnographic research--can provide important insights into healthcare and modes
of self-care in the past.

Reifschneider analyzes
archaeological evidence uncovered from sites such as house deposits, middens,
latrines, and hospital waste pits that demonstrates how official healthcare policies
were implemented in daily life, revealing a diversity of therapeutic practices connected
to social identities. The book includes a case study of the US Army’s hygiene
and healthcare practices at the Presidio of San Francisco, showing how soldiers
engaged in practices mandated by the government while also using alternative
therapies for self-care.

Throughout the
book, Reifschneider highlights structural health inequalities in the past and
how the effects of previous exclusionary policies continue to manifest in the
present day. By examining healthcare and medicine through the lens of
archaeology, this book demonstrates the dynamic and often unexpected histories of
medical practice, pointing to the ways Americans’ experiences today reflect
these historical dynamics.

A volume in the
series the American Experience in Archaeological Perspective, edited by Michael
S. Nassaney and Krysta Ryzewski