IN SMALL THINGS FORGOTTEN: An Archeology of...

IN SMALL THINGS FORGOTTEN: An Archeology of Early American Life by James Deetz (Anchor: $11, 284 pp., illustrated). In an expanded edition of his 1977 study, Deetz explains what can be gleaned about Colonial life from fragments of pottery and metal. Unique styles of earthenware and architecture indicate that African Americans played a more significant role in pre-Revolutionary society than is commonly believed.

Deetz argues that these discarded objects give a truer picture of 17th and 18th century life than the sterile exhibits in museums, which “reflect our view of the American past as a romantic time when things were prettier, problems fewer, life simpler and people kindlier disposed toward their fellows. Such was not the case, and when we view ourselves in comparison to such a distorted view of our past, our present situation seems far more desperate than it is.”