Northeast Historical ArchaeologyfVol. 30-31,2001-2002 143 Research Questions for the Archaeology of Rural Places: Experiences from the Middle Atlantic

That some 19th-century farmsteads and other rural places have significance is generally conceded as true. Our problem as his~orical archaeologists is to develop research questions and directions that illumi-nate and explain to a broad audience the significance of the physical evidence of the cultures of agriculture in American history. This essay looks at some of the writings of early agricultural historians and draws on pre-vious historical and archaeological farmstead studies in the Middle Atlantic region. Ideas about the success (or failure) of field approaches are presented, and suggestions for research directions that could serve as over-arching themes to tie the archaeology of rural places to national trends are offered. II est generalement admis que certaines fermes et autres endroits ruraux datant du XIXe siecle sont importants. Le probleme qui nous preoccupe en tant qu'archeologues de Ia periode historique concerne le developpemimt des questions de recherche et des instructions qui elucident et expliquent ii un public vaste /'importance des preuves physiques des cultures associees ii /'agriculture dans I'histoire americaine. Cet essai se concentre sur les ecrits des premiers historiens de I ' agriculture et s ' appuie sur des etude