Margarita Diaz-Andreu offers an innovative history of archaeology during the nineteenth century, encompassing all its fields from the origins of humanity to the medieval period, and all areas of the world. The development of archaeology is placed within the framework of contemporary political events, with a particular focus upon the ideologies of nationalism and imperialism. Diaz-Andreu examines a wide range of issues, including the creation of institutions, the conversion of the study of antiquities into a profession, public memory, changes in archaeological thought and practice, and the effect on archaeology of racism, religion, the belief in progress, hegemony, and resistance.

Margarita Diaz-Andreu offers an innovative history of archaeology during the nineteenth century, encompassing all its fields from the origins of humanity to the medieval period, and all areas of the world. The development of archaeology is placed within the framework of contemporary political events, with a particular focus upon the ideologies of nationalism and imperialism. Diaz-Andreu examines a wide range of issues, including the creation of institutions, the conversion of thestudy of antiquities into a profession, public memory, changes in archaeological thought and practice, and the effect on archaeology of racism, religion, the belief in progress, hegemony, and resistance.

In this publication the results of an archaeological research project conducted by the Department of Medieval Archaeology of the University of Tübingen, Institute for Prehistory and Medieval Archaeology, under the leadership of Barbara Scholkmann during the years 2003 to 2009 in the ruins of Panamá la Vieja (Panama City, Rep. Panamá) have been published. The Spanish colonial town of Panamá la Vieja, was founded in 1519 and was the first city on the pacific coast. It was a centre of the Spanish colonial empire with vast strategic and economic importance until it was destroyed by English pirates in 1671 and at this place subsequently abandoned. Numerous ruins, especially of large buildings such as the cathedral, the abbey churches and some secular buildings, have been preserved until now without being disturbed by modern development. Thus, the ruin city represents an ideal field of research for archaeological investigations. Six campaign excavations were carried out in the city's former hospital San Juan de Dios as well as in a large building complex, which were used for the handling of goods. At the west end some sondages were conducted to get information about structures in the outlying district. The entire area of the city was prospected geomagneticallyand a topographic map was produced for a large part of the terrain. Several ruin-complexes were measured and examined by archaeologists specialized in architecture. The recovered find material was reviewed and subsequently catalogued and classified parallel to the excavation work. The entire stock of finds from older archaeological investigations was also documented in the context of a post-doc project. With the aid of statistic analyses and patterns of find distribution it was possible to research questions concerning social structure, functional differentiation and the area inner-structure of the city. The results from the hospital were evaluated and the different find groups of the material culture were presented in the context of several academic theses. In the process some of the manifold and very interesting aspects were thematised which the first Spanish town on the Atlantic seaboard, abandoned in the 17th century and today a UNESCO World Heritage Site, can offer to European historical archaeology.

As McEwan argues, the past is well suited to manipulation and can be used to uphold particular ideologies, for example those dictated by the state. This discussion of the development of archaeology in Ireland in the 19th century places it within an intellectual and historical context to determine the inherent and external factors at work in directing and influencing its progress. With Foucault as the starting point, McEwan assesses a range of important ideological concepts, including romanticism, nationalism, imperialism and individualism, and asks whetehr archaeology and those individuals within it chose to embrace or resist them. Concluding that Ireland's past is both complex and contradictory, she reaffirms that Irish archaeology of the 19th century `was essentially contrived to serve the people rather than always upholding the power structure'.

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An interdisciplinary interrogation of the concept of British ‘informal empire’ in Latin America. Builds upon recent advances in the historiography of imperialism and studies of the nineteenth-century modern world, most obviously the work of Ann Stoler, Catherine Hall and C.A. Bayly Combines a comparative perspective with the juxtaposition of political economy, cultural history, gendered and postcolonial approaches By proposing and debating alternative explanatory models, the book breathes new life into the flagging concept of ‘informal empire’ Illuminates the study of British imperialism, from which Latin America is usually conspicuous only by its absence, and provides a broad and sound basis for interpreting the complex processes of nation-building and state-formation in Latin America Includes essays by scholars who have been shaping the debate for several decades, alongside work by a younger generation of researchers keen to re-conceptualise and re-assess the roles of commerce and culture in shaping informal empire