Introduction

The archaeological study of the physical evidence of recent industrial activity has been one of the most important developments in archaeology, at least in Britain, in the second half of the twentieth century. Industrial archaeology has been transformed from a fringe activity in the 1950s to an internationally recognized element of the discipline of archaeology, demonstrated by the large number of cultural landscapes designated as World Heritage sites by UNESCO which have industrial activity at their heart (Figure 1). In this, however, lies the dichotomy of industrial archaeology - it is both an academic study of the ways in which people lived and worked in the past through the physical remains which survive into the present and at the same time a conservation movement to protect and interpret those remains (see World Heritage Sites, Types and Laws). Obviously, the two aspects come together: it is impossible to interpret industrial monuments unless they are understood through archaeological and historical study. But the popular and even the professional conception of industrial archaeology has tended to adopt its meaning as a movement to conserve the industrial past, which would be better termed ‘industrial heritage’, rather than its meaning as the study of the ways people worked in the past. This has hindered its acceptance at the academic level and it is only in the last two decades (1990s-2000s) that it has made considerable headway in this direction. Nevertheless, the emphasis on conservation and preservation of sites currently distinguishes industrial archaeology from both postmedieval and historical archaeology, and has led to a greater retention of volunteer interest, reflected in the contrasting nature of the membership of the two major British societies concerned with the study of the recent past, the Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology (SPMA) and the Association for Industrial Archaeology (AIA). The latter was set up in 1973 to represent the interests of industrial archaeology. It still attempts to hold a balance between the volunteers, who have dominated industrial archaeology in the past, and the professionals, who are playing an increasingly important role. However, volunteers still account for the majority of labor at working sites. In 1998, English Heritage undertook research to quantify volunteer effort in industrial heritage activity in the UK, and their report (Public Access to England’s Industrial Heritage) concluded that there was a total volunteer workforce of some 11600 participating in the preservation and operation of industrial heritage sites in England, amounting to some ?5.8 million pounds in value. The AIA publishes the premier British journal in the field, Industrial Archaeology Review. In the USA, too, a similar contrast exists between the membership and publications of the Society for Historical Archaeology and the Society for Industrial Archaeology, the latter being founded in 1971 and from 1975 publishing Industrial Archeology, edited by Patrick Martin of Michigan Technological University.

In 1983, the journal World Archaeology devoted a volume to industrial archaeology (vol. 15. no. 2, 1983). In his overall survey of world industrial archaeology, the economic historian Walter Minchinton said that industrial archaeology had been one of the more successful British postwar exports but that he hoped that a similar survey in 10 years time would be able to report on a more extensive geographical activity, a widened topical scope and a greater professionalism in industrial archaeology throughout the world. More than 20 years on, this article takes up this challenge. It first considers the genesis and significance of these two meanings of industrial archaeology in a section on ‘Origins, definitions, and scope’. A second section considers the subject matter of the discipline, while a final section deals with the changes brought about by the dramatic development of contract archaeology in the 1990s and the need for research strategies to help eliminate the fragmentation created by such an approach.