Obsolescence and Renewal

Patrimonio: Arqueologia Industrial , 2014

Journal of Modern Craft, 2019

This paper explores a key practice adopted by those local to or from Stoke-on-Trent, and outlines its significance in the wider context of ‘ordinary’ consumption and material cultures, globalisation and local identity. Being a ‘turnover-er’ – someone who always turns over pottery to check whether it is Stoke-on-Trent ware – is an oft practised, but little examined part of the living heritage that connects those with affinity to ‘the Potteries’ (as the region is known) and its ceramic ware. The project set out to explore qualitative accounts of turning over and to gauge its salience and reach as a practice, linking this to broader accounts of material culture, consumption and heritage. We carried out 20 interviews with those who turn over or who have an interest in local ceramics, and an online survey (n = 500) which explored the some of the reasons for turning over. Findings indicate the strong connections established by the practice of turning over to local identity, both inherited...

This paper is an expanded version of two lectures presented at meetings of the Society held on  October  and  January . It considers the changing contexts within which industrial archaeology in Britain has evolved and continues to develop, some of the issues affecting its wider realization and the challenges of conserving such physical evidence as will allow future generations to gain an understanding of the great age of industry as it affected British society, the economy and landscape.

Industrial Archaeology. Future Directions. Nueva York: …, 2005

Drawing upon the evolutionary geography literature, we analyse how the North Staffordshire ceramics industrial district has begun to reverse a phase of 'long decline' (1979-2008). Our analysis is based upon a series of interviews with 25 Senior Managers from within the district. We document how the district has purposively begun to exploit its traditional strengths, with firms adopting new strategies, technologies and attitudes to governance (and collaboration) in response to exogenous challenges, thus raising the prospect of an 'industrial renaissance'. The case demonstrates decline in old industrial regions is not inevitable and through 'adaptation', new trajectories are possible.

The essays in this book are adapted from papers presented at the 24th Annual Conference of the Theoretical Archaeology Group, held at the University of Manchester, in December 2002. The conference session "An Industrial Revolution? Future Directions for Industrial Archaeology," was jointly devised by the editors, and sponsored by English Heritage, with the intention of gathering together leading industrial and historical archaeologists from around the world. However, just as Manchester is being transformed by regeneration, shaking off many of the negative connotations associated with factory-based industrial production, and remaking itself as a 21st century city, then so too, is the archaeological study of industrialisation being transformed. Over the past decade, industrial archaeology has emerged as a theoretically driven subfield. Research has begun to meaningfully engage with such weighty issues as globalisation; post/modernity; power; innovation and invention; slavery and captivity; class, ethnic, and gender identities; social relations of technology and labour; and the spread and diversification of western capitalism. With contributions from an international group of authors, this volume highlights the current thought in industrial archaeology, as well as explores future theoretical and methodological directions. Together, these chapters further the process of meaningful engagement with such weighty issues as globalization; post/modernity; power; production and consumption; innovation and invention; class, ethnic, and gender identities; social relations of technology and labour; and the spread and diversification of western capitalism. Industrial Archaeology: Future Directions will be of interest to historical and urban archaeologists, architectural historians, preservation agencies, archaeological consulting organizations, cultural resource managers, and students of these disciplines.

Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Reading, 2017

Changing pottery production methods are one of numerous significant developments in the archaeological record of Later Iron Age southern Britain. Previous studies of ceramic technology in this period (e.g. Rigby & Freestone 1997; Hill 2002) suffered from a lack of empirical data with which to characterise technological change, and only sparingly engaged with material culture theory. Our understanding of the social significance of changing technology has therefore remained largely obscured. Clay is a plastic medium upon which numerous traces of technological practices leave their mark. These practices yield valuable information pertaining to how people interacted with the material world in socially-constructed ways, and how this changed during periods of upheaval. On this basis, this study provides the first attempt to empirically characterise the nature of ceramic technological change in two studyregions: Berkshire and northern Hampshire; and Hertfordshire. Petrographic and SEM analyses were used to characterise technological properties of Middle and Late Iron Age ceramic fabrics from the two regions; and radiographic analysis of 428 vessels revealed details of forming methods employed. Elements of continuity are identified for the first time: for example, in patterns of clay preparation or the use of coil-building; as well as in the continued production of flint-tempered pottery in Hampshire. Novel technology was variably employed alongside this continuity: for example, in both regions the potter’s wheel was employed in at least two different ways - wheel-coiling, and throwing. Results point to a Middle Iron Age characterised by numerous localised systems of technical practice, from which emerged a Late Iron Age that saw technical knowledge flow more freely between groups of producers. This enriched technological background provided the means for the constitution of new forms of identity, and the reconfiguration of what it meant to be a craftsperson in a rapidly changing society.

2016

The development of industrial archaeology over the last 50 years can be traced through articles published in PMA. The early stages of recording the standing remains of industrial activity were augmented by detailed studies of groups of structures which revealed the organization of the manufacturing process. From the late 1980s, developer-funded excavations became important following extensive remediation work on brownfield sites. Greater attention was paid to the social context of past industrial activity including workers’ housing and institutional buildings, and this has continued with studies of oral history. New challenges considered include studies of modern technologies, de-industrialization and the digital revolution.

2005