Archaeology is ideally suited for examining the deep roots of urbanism, its materialization and physicality, and the commonalities and variability in urban experiences cross-culturally and temporally. We propose that the significant advances archaeologists have made in situating the discipline within broader urban studies could be furthered through increased dialog between scholars working on urbanism during prehistoric and historical periods, as a means of bridging concerns in the study of the past and present. We review some major themes in urban studies by presenting archaeological cases from two areas of the Americas: central Mexico and Atlantic North America. Our cases span premodern and early modern periods, and three of the four covered in greatest depth live on as cities of today. Comparison of the cases highlights the complementarity of their primary datasets: the long developmental trajectories and relatively intact urban plans offered by many prehistoric cities, and the rich documentary sources offered by historic cities.

Flood damages occur when just one inch of water enters a residential household and models of flood damage estimation are sensitive to first-floor elevation (FFE). The current sources for FFEs consist of costly survey-based elevation certificates (ECs) or assumptions based on year built, foundation type, and flood zone. We sought to address these limitations by establishing the role of an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) to efficiently derive accurate FFEs. Four residential communities within Galveston Island, Texas were selected to assess efficient flight parameters required for UAS photogrammetry within the built environment. A real-time kinematic positioning enabled (RTK) UAS was then used to gather georeferenced aerial imagery and create detailed 3D photogrammetric models with ±0.02 m horizontal and ±0.05 m vertical accuracies. From these residential models, FFEs and other structural measurements present in traditional ECs were obtained. Comparative statistical analyses were performed using the UAS-based measurements and traditional EC measurements. UAS based FFE measurements achieved 0.16 m mean absolute error (MAE) across all comparative observations and were not statistically different from traditional EC measures. We conclude the RTK enabled UAS approach is an efficient, cost-effective method in establishing accurate FFEs and other flood-sensitive measures in residential communities.

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Archaeology is ideally suited for examining the deep roots of urbanism, its materialization and physicality, and the commonalities and variability in urban experiences cross-culturally and temporally. We propose that the significant advances archaeologists have made in situating the discipline within broader urban studies could be furthered through increased dialog between scholars working on urbanism during prehistoric and historical periods, as a means of bridging concerns in the study of the past and present. We review some major themes in urban studies by presenting archaeological cases from two areas of the Americas: central Mexico and Atlantic North America. Our cases span premodern and early modern periods, and three of the four covered in greatest depth live on as cities of today. Comparison of the cases highlights the complementarity of their primary datasets: the long developmental trajectories and relatively intact urban plans offered by many prehistoric cities, and the rich documentary sources offered by historic cities.

Each year, the Contemporary and Historical Archaeology in Theory (CHAT) conference convenes to highlight archaeological research on the recent past. The annual gathering is a forum for critical discussion of historical archaeology and the archaeology of the contemporary world that seeks to expand the academic and political limits of archaeological thinking. In short, CHAT provides an opportunity outside of the customary conference circuit for archaeologists to present new work in a progressive and socially affective, yet rigorous, scholarly atmosphere. CHAT has taken place in the British Isles since 2003, with past events held in Bristol, Leicester, Dublin, Sheffield, London, and Oxford.In May 2009, we undertook to bring this vital discussion to North America by hosting a CHAT-themed session at the Theoretical Archaeology Group Conference (TAG) at Stanford University. This volume comprises seven papers that were presented at that session and two papers commissioned after the conference. Though the contributions are diverse, each one is crafted in the spirit of CHAT in that they each explore the recent past, stretching and challenging political, theoretical, and methodological conventions. These nine papers, focusing on archaeology from the late 19th century onward, are followed by a concluding critical commentary by Barbara Voss. This volume aims to showcase variety and individuality, as well as tease out commonalities among the wide array of archaeological projects that fall under the shared endeavor of exploring the recent past.The development and current state of our subfield has been ably covered by others (see Hicks and Beaudry 2006; in any way, but rather as a modest sampling of some of the topics and themes currently being examined by our subfield.The first two articles explore moments of destruction. González-Ruibal and Hernando trace the movements and interactions of loggers, ranchers, indigenous hunters, and police in the contested landscape of the Brazilian Amazon. The authors reveal potent material and emotive connections between South American jungle devastation and suburban American sun decks. Yazdi focuses on the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that struck the city of Bam, Iran, in December 2003. The research project began shortly after the quake hit and examines the material remains of the city's destroyed households. In a country where public expression is strictly controlled, and personal space is paramount, it is perhaps through lost and abandoned material culture that we might understand more about private life in Iran.Formation, justification, and maintenance of the nation state connect the next three papers. First, Funari and Funari demonstrate how conceptions and representations of ancient Egypt had a profound effect on the very birth of Brazil as an independent country. This ''Egyptomania'' continues to influence, as it is visually and materially tied to present day ethnic and social inequalities. Second, Samuels examines the material and ephemeral traces of utopian Sicilian villa...