The SHA Material Culture Series sounds like an excellent idea. I hope it gets
plenty of support.
I'd like to suggest that some other industrial categories be included, as well
(besides mining, transportation and logging). I'm an archaeologist working
for a CRM company in Georgia and I, for one, have more grist mill sites than I
can shake a stick at, with too few leads on identifying the hardware.
Some information about industrial artifacts is available through historic
manuals, current articles in the Journal for the Society of Industrial
Archeology, and books like Gordon and Malone's _Texture of Industry_.
However, there is a real need to digest such information for a comprehensive
guide to industrial artifacts and features. Useful topics might include Mills
(grist, textile, etc.), Water Power and Irrigation, Farming Implements;
Manufacturing, Blacksmithing, and Iron Works to name just a few. You might
contact members of the SIA, HAER, and industrial mined folks of the SHA to
help compile such information.
Sarah Cowie
Southern Research
Columbus, GA
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