Poverty and Illness in the 'Old Countries': archaeological approaches to historical medical institutions in the British Isles.

Abstract

Since the 1990s, archaeological approaches to institutions designed for public health, benefit, and welfare have been developed. Key publications have raised the profile of ‘institutional’ archaeology in North America and Australia, while archaeology-based, and built-environment focused, research in the British Isles has gained momentum. These buildings continue to be grouped under the category of ‘institutional’ architecture, alongside prisons and institutions for confinement, but in light of recent scholarship, homogenisation of institutional buildings is no longer so useful. Focusing on the British Isles, this paper outlines archaeological methodologies that set British and Irish approaches within their unique context, highlighting the distinctiveness of different building types. Focusing on two institutional building types, the asylum and the hospital, the significant difference between these building types and those frequently considered analogous becomes apparent