Material Culture and Structural Violence: Reframing Evidence of the Social Gradient in Industrial Contexts

Coal mining is an industry that historically has exposed laborers to a variety of environmental and occupational health hazards that have resulted in injury, illness, and/or physical disability. These health hazards, however, did not impact all laborers involved in coal mining equally. As a coal-mining company town organized with four distinct housing areas that correlate historically with the socioeconomic statuses of the jobs held at the colliery, Eckley Miners’ Village provides a case study to explore how these health disparities were lived with and treated by residents of the industrial company town. Through an analysis of health-related material culture from house lots in two different sections of Eckley Miners’ Village, evidence of the social gradient can be seen in the quality and quantity of medical ephemera present in the archaeological record. By utilizing archaeology, scholars can develop a longitudinal study of health disparities in the coal-mining towns of northeastern Pennsylvania. Examining contemporary health disparities requires tracing the historical foundations of these inequities, providing a critical space for archaeologists to contribute meaningful insights into the implications of social, political, and economic factors on exposure to health hazards and access to treatment materials.