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Interesting you were distracted by the wedding, have you thought of studying the football ground? I'm not sure that chasing glory for the sake of it is worth while, there will be plenty of sociologies of the royal wedding that do exactly what you describe. We don't have an archaeology of weddings at all, that im aware of, so mabe it would be wiser to consider the royal wedding in a wider ritual and societal setting enriched by a broad contextual understanding of the materiality of matrimony in the 21st century. Any archaeological studies about Michal Jacksons death? In commemorative terms there as many, or more, memorials to him than Diana. Which is interesting, both in terms of a comparative study and what contemporary archaeologist do and do not look at. Best Wishes Duncan Sayer Lecturer in Archaeology UCLan -----Original Message----- From: Iain Stuart <[log in to unmask]> To: CONTEMP-HIST-ARCH <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Mon, 2 May 2011 5:28 Subject: The contemporary archaeology of the Royal Wedding Thereason I raised this question (apart from a bit of stirring the possum) is thatthere were a few archaeological studies of the death of Diana in particular thememorials as an expression of public grief. Surelythis is just a big an event (although lacking the spontaneity) and deservesstudy. I wasn’t really thinking of studying the “royals” butwhat the people in the street were doing – how they expressed theirposition in it all. To camp out for days, to wave a flag to buy a plate or aPeco N scale “Royal Wedding train” says something about peoplesplace in British society. Were there subversives (remember the Maori protestsof a few years back where they protested a Royal Visit by flashing and slappingtheir bums in a traditional gesture of protest)? What about people like myrelatives on Skye still reflecting on the failure of ’45? Itseems like a rich opportunity is or was there to be studied and maybe contemporaryhistorical archaeology missed it! Ispent the occasion with 28,000 others at the Sydney Football Ground in thepouring rain watching my team get beaten. The fans behind me were watching thewedding on-line! Suchis life Dr Iain StuartPartnerJCIS Consultants --------------------------contemp-hist-arch is a list for news and eventsin contemporary and historical archaeology, andfor announcements relating to the CHAT conference group.-------For email subscription options see:http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/archives/contemp-hist-arch.html-------Visit the CHAT website for more information and for future meeting dates:http://www.contemp-hist-arch.ac.uk-------------------------- -------------------------- contemp-hist-arch is a list for news and events in contemporary and historical archaeology, and for announcements relating to the CHAT conference group. ------- For email subscription options see: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/archives/contemp-hist-arch.html ------- Visit the CHAT website for more information and for future meeting dates: http://www.contemp-hist-arch.ac.uk --------------------------