Unlocking the Past: Celebrating Historical Archaeology in North America is a multi-year public outreach and education project of the Society for Historical Archaeology's (SHA's) Public Education and Information Committee. Products include a book and companion web site. The book, published by SHA and The University Press of Florida, introduces readers to the compelling discoveries unearthed by archaeologists in search of North America's historic past. This unique volume leads readers on a journey to sites from Canada to the Caribbean, from the early Norse voyages through World War II. It tells the stories of historical archaeologists pioneering on sites in rural and urban North America, on the land and under water, at forts, shipwrecks, missions, farms, city lots, and sites of industry. Through the work of more than 30 archaeologists, readers learn the who, what, where, when, how, and why of historical archaeology. Using scientific methods, historical archaeologists dissect soils, recover fragile objects, and document each element of the excavation. Readers also follow the archaeologists into the laboratory, the library, and the archives. There they piece together the many fragments of evidence that reveal how North Americans interacted with their environment and each other over the course of five centuries.

Five research themes organize these tales of North American historical archaeology. In Cultural Interaction, studies of architecture and landscape, foods and dining, burial practices, and other objects of everyday life unravel the complex contributions of all native and immigrant peoples to our material heritage. Environment highlights the techniques, resources, and questions that historical archaeologists use to understand the roots of our own ways of thinking about and acting on the land. Living in Cities portrays urban life in huge cities like New York, World Heritage cities like Quebec, and industrial cities like Oakland, California, through the remains past residents left buried beneath the streets and tall buildings of today. Living in Rural America explores the strong rural tradition in North American history. Readers learn how archaeologists "read" the traces of farms, ranches, potteries, and mills. Cultures in Conflict introduces the historical archaeology of the colonial wars, the United States' Civil War, the mythic Battle of Little Bighorn, and World War II.

The book concludes with a look at the future of the past through the experiences of a new generation of historical archaeologists. Together with the other contributors from across North America, they invite readers to become partners in preserving and exploring the cultural heritage that is our legacy.

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