INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY

WHAT IS INDUSTRIAL ARCHAELOGY ?

By 👉Nisa Emelyia 

Industrial archaeology is the systematic examination of physical remains connected to the history of industry. This evidence, referred to as industrial legacy as a whole, consists of structures, equipment, artefacts, locations, infrastructure, records, and other objects related to the creation, manufacturing, extraction, transport, or construction of a product or group of goods. In order to put together the history of previous industrial activity, the study of industrial archaeology combines a variety of disciplines, including archaeology, architecture, construction, engineering, historic preservation, museology, technology, urban planning, and other specialisations. The written record of many industrial procedures is sometimes poor or nonexistent, necessitating the scientific interpretation of material data. Examining both sites that require an excavation and still-standing structures are both included in industrial archaeology. While numerous ancient industrial sites and artefacts were disappearing across Great Britain in the 1950s, including the eponymous Euston Arch in London, the field of industrial archaeology was growing. Industrial archaeology developed as a distinct branch of archaeology throughout the 1960s and 1970s with the growth of national cultural heritage movements, first in Great Britain and then in the US and other countries. The Industrial Monuments Survey in England and the Historic American Engineering Record in the United States were two of the first formal national inventories of industrial history that were started during this time. 

Industrial archaeologists' work has raised public awareness of industrial history, including the establishment of industry museums and the placement of sites on national and international historic cultural registers in various areas of the world. Among the many notable examples are the Ironbridge Gorge Museums, Engelsberg Ironworks, and Lowell National Historical Park.

Wikimedia Foundation. (2021, December 27). Engelsberg Ironworks. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engelsberg_Ironworks

Engelsberg Ironworks (Swedish: Engelsbergs bruk) is a Swedish ironworks located in ngelsberg, a village in Fagersta Municipality in the Swedish province of Västmanland. Per Larsson Gyllenhöök (1645-1706) founded it in 1681 and it evolved into one of the world's most advanced ironworks between 1700 and 1800. Since 1993, it has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Wikimedia Foundation. (2022, August 22). Lowell National Historical Park. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowell_National_Historical_Park

Lowell National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park in Lowell, Massachusetts. It was established in 1978, a few years after Lowell Heritage State Park, and is maintained by the National Park Service. It consists of a collection of distinct sites in and around Lowell associated to the city's textile industry heyday during the Industrial Revolution. In 2019, the park was designated as Massachusetts' representative in the America the Beautiful Quarters series.[2]