Signs of the Times: Nineteenth - Twentieth Century Graffiti in the Farms of the Yorkshire Wolds

TY - CHAP

T1 - Signs of the Times: Nineteenth - Twentieth Century Graffiti in the Farms of the Yorkshire Wolds

AU - Giles, Kate

AU - Giles, Mel

N1 - Reproduced with permission from Archaeopress.

PY - 2010

Y1 - 2010

N2 - This paper is concerned with graffiti found in farm buildings on the Yorkshire Wolds, dating between the late nineteenth and late twentieth centuries. It uses an archaeological approach to explore the social and performative nature of these inscriptions, to analyse their content and character, and to consider the communities responsible for their creation. We argue that this was a vital medium of expression for a particular group of farm-workers – the horselads – and was part of the way in which they negotiated their status and identity during a period of great social upheaval and agricultural change (Giles and Giles 2007). We situate the making of these marks within the horselads’ seasonal rhythms of labour and broader patterns of inhabitation. Finally, we explore spatial and stratigraphic relationships associated with graffiti panels, to elucidate different groups within these communities, and analyse how they changed over time.

AB - This paper is concerned with graffiti found in farm buildings on the Yorkshire Wolds, dating between the late nineteenth and late twentieth centuries. It uses an archaeological approach to explore the social and performative nature of these inscriptions, to analyse their content and character, and to consider the communities responsible for their creation. We argue that this was a vital medium of expression for a particular group of farm-workers – the horselads – and was part of the way in which they negotiated their status and identity during a period of great social upheaval and agricultural change (Giles and Giles 2007). We situate the making of these marks within the horselads’ seasonal rhythms of labour and broader patterns of inhabitation. Finally, we explore spatial and stratigraphic relationships associated with graffiti panels, to elucidate different groups within these communities, and analyse how they changed over time.

M3 - Chapter

SN - 9781407306353

VL - BAR S2074, Studies in Contemporary and Historical Archaeology 6

T3 - Studies in Contemporary and Historical Archaeology

SP - 47

EP - 59

BT - Wild Signs: Graffiti in Archaeology and History

A2 - Oliver, J

A2 - Neal, T

PB - Archaeopress and John and Erica Hedges Ltd

CY - Oxford

ER -