urban archaeology session 6: industrial archaeology

Industrial Archaeology & Architecture

08 November 2012Week 6

TodayWhat is Industrial Archaeology and how can I do it?

• Defining Industrial Archaeology• Trade and Industry in the Archaeological

Record• Techniques for Industrial Archaeology

Classical Definition

• Donald Dudley & Michael Ricks 1955 in The Amateur Historian the 18th and 19th Century, the monuments of the industrial revolution.

• “The discovery, recording and study of the physical remains of yesterday’s industries and communications.” Baker (1963) Industrial Archaeology: An Introduction

Trade and Industry

• A very old story indeed, so what is industrial archaeology?

• In post industrial landscapes it is easy to understand the focus on the modern age but in cities like Southampton this makes less sense.

Techniques for Industrial Archaeology

• Transience is what makes industrial archaeology unique.

• It relies upon understandings of processes which are easily lost.

• Taff Merthyr Colliery• Consequently we require two sets of

techniques• Documentation and Preservation

1. Documentation

• Record what remains and try to interpret it• Commonly known as ‘archaeology’!

• Port of Imperial Rome between the mid-1st century AD and the 6thcentury AD

• established by Claudius in the mid-1st century AD, enlarged by Trajan, and subsequently modified during the 3rd and 4thcenturies AD.

• Civil Architecture on an Astonishing Scale

Recording a Roman Port Complex

Latrines

Images copyright of Portus Project

Questions Remain

• Where are the people?• What were these buildings used for? • Mysterious remains hint at a medival life

about which we know very little…

2. Preservation

• Prevent understandings from being lost• Documents, instruction manuals, recorded

material, oral histories.

How can I do Industrial Archaeology?

Collect material!

Think about the methods we have already covered

• Participation: Association of Industrial ArchaeologyEnglish Heritage – Industrial Heritage at Riskhttp://www.english-heritage.org.uk/caring/heritage-at-risk/industrial-heritage-at-risk/ http://www.flickr.com/groups/industrialheritageatrisk/

Oral History

• The perfect industrial method. • The original research technique. • Voices not usually heard.

Oral History

Oral History Society http://www.ohs.org.uk

What do you want to know? Who will you talk to? Which questions should you ask?