"Voices in the Past is a pioneering exploration of the scope for linking archaeology and the critical reading of literature." "John Hines introduces and compares the theories and methods of the two subjects; showing how material and literary artefacts are related, and arguing for a fully interdisciplinary approach as a means of gaining a deeper understanding of their meaning and value." "This new perspective is then applied to a series of texts and contexts from the Anglo-Saxon period through the High Middle Ages to the Renaissance and Restoration, the 1850s, and American modernism of the 1930s." "Key topics considered are the functions and meanings of references and objects, the physical surroundings of literary performances, the emergence of books as commodities and authorship as a profession, and the role of literature in responses to accelerating material change in the modern world." "Through this reading of creative writing and archaeological heritage, the author offers fresh and rewarding insights into all periods of English cultural history."--Jacket.