"Patina is a wonderfully original and inspiring piece of work, which challenges the conventional approaches of archaeology, anthropology, and history. Dawdy succeeds in capturing the memory of an extraordinary place that encapsulates many contradictions and tensions within American identity: the city of New Orleans. With this book, Dawdy offers a major contribution to the growing theoretical foundations of this alternative approach of the past; which acknowledges the present to be the only point where from the past can be accurately explored and understood. Patina is a milestone in the new academic focus on historical thought–a pioneer work which will set the bar for future specialists in this growing field."– "Laurent Olivier, National Archaeological Museum of Saint-Germain-en-Laye"