Invention and Engineering

Industrial archaeology

Industrial archaeology (IA) is the systematic study of material and immaterial evidence associated with past and present industrial processes. This can be either the material culture of a manufacturing process from any period or, more often, the study of the process of industrialisation through material evidence. This evidence includes buildings, machinery, artifacts, sites, infrastructure, documents, and other items associated with the production, manufacture, extraction, transport, or construction of a product or range of products. It also includes the landscape impact of industrialsiation, both rural and urban. It is related to but, separate from, the study of industrial heritage. The field of industrial archaeology incorporates a range of disciplines including archaeology, architecture, construction, engineering, historic preservation, museology, technology, urban planning and other specialties, in order to piece together the history of past industrial activities and their impact on society. The scientific interpretation of material evidence is often necessary, as the written record of many industrial techniques is often incomplete or nonexistent. Industrial archaeology includes both the examination of standing structures and sites that must be studied by an excavation. The field of industrial archaeology developed during the 1950s in Great Britain, at a time when many historic industrial sites and artifacts were being lost throughout that country, including the notable case of Euston Arch in London. In the 1960s and 1970s, with the rise of national cultural heritage movements, industrial archaeology grew as a distinct form of archaeology, with a strong emphasis on preservation, first in Great Britain, and later in the United States and other parts of the world. During this period, the first organized national industrial heritage inventories were begun, including the Industrial Monuments Survey in England and the Historic American Engineering Record in the United States. Additionally, a number of regional and national IA organizations were established, including the North American-based Society for Industrial Archeology in 1971, and the British-based Association for Industrial Archaeology in 1973. That same year, the First International Conference on the Conservation of Industrial Monuments was held at Ironbridge in Shropshire.

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See also

• ▸Crankshaft
• ▸1953 Coronation Honours
• ▸Eureka and Palisade Railroad 4 Eureka

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