Jamie,
I think your argument for the "bad" old days is simplistic, as you probably
meant it to be.  Contrary to your argument, the first real archaeological
excavations at Monticello, done by Oriol Pi-Sunyer (1957) and Vladimir
Markotic (1958), centered on the industrial buildings of Mulberry Row and
looked at the garden.  While "digging" was done by folks interested in
architectural restoration through the 1950s (without much archaeological
expertise), relatively little work at Monticello has focused on the mansion
as compared to the ornamental landscape, quarters, industrial buildings and
broader plantation.

Barbara Heath
Director of Archaeology
Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest
P.O. Box 419
Forest, VA 24551
(804) 525-1806

> -----Original Message-----
> From: J. H. Brothers [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Friday, January 19, 2001 1:57 AM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Re: Industrial Archaeology of the Workplace
>
> If you are referring to my original post, you missed the point.  If you
> look at
> the history of archaeology different things/site types get investigated at
> different times.  Back in the "bad" old days all that got excavated was
> temples
> and palaces.  The objective was to gather as much jewelry and statuary as
> possible for "your" museum.  In the US this manifested itself as the
> archaeology
> of sites associated with "great Men" or in the SW pueblos.
>
> In the South most of the emphasis was on the plantations of people like
> the
> Washingtons, Jefferson, Lees. etc.  And the excavations were almost
> exclusively
> of the mansion itself.  No one bothered with outbuildings or slave
> quarters.
> Then there was a paradigm shift and folks realized that in order to
> achieve a
> complete understanding of the plantation you needed to excavate all of it.
> It
> was also discovered that the role of slaves and women, virtually invisible
> in the
> historic record, could be got at through archaeology.  So was born gender
> and
> slave archaeology.
>
> Today industrial archaeology is in the same position and those of us
> interested
> in it are ready for another paradigm shift.  Most excavations of
> industrial sites
> key on the workers.  Often the excavations of company towns are confined
> to the
> boarding houses, brothels, and bars.  But, it is time for the
> archaeological
> community to realize that there is tremendous value in excavating the
> industrial
> portions.
>
> The US is a world power because of industry.  The history of industry and
> technology has value.  There is a lot that remains unknown about how the
> US got
> where it is today.  Much of this information is available through the
> investigation of industrial sites.
>
> Jamie Brothers
>
> Mark Walker wrote:
>
> > While I have to admit being a bit uncomfortable with the comparison in
> this
> > thread between industrial archaeology and archaeologies of slavery and
> > gender, the reference to "scientific management" has raised a question
> for me.
> >
> > A central tenet of "scientific management" and Taylorism was enabling
> > managers to gain control of the workplace -- in theory breaking labor
> power
> > and craft rights by deskilling workers and implementing detailed
> > surveillance of the workers.  I know there is a considerable (ok, vast)
> > historical literature and a much smaller archaeological one that looks
> at
> > the workplace as the site of conflict between labor and management.  I'd
> > agree with Stacy Kozakavich that industrial archaeology is well
> positioned
> > to address these issues as technology obviously played a vital role in
> this.
> > I've seen papers here and there advocating class-based approaches, but I
> am
> > not sure what has been done beyond that.  Are there specifically
> industrial
> > archaeological studies that have looked at the technology of the
> workplace
> > in terms of conflict over control of the labor process?  I'd greatly
> > appreciate any pointers.
> >
> > Thanks in advance.
> >
> > Mark
> >
> > -Mark Walker-
> > ---------------------------------------------
> >    Who built Thebes of the seven gates?
> >    In the books you will find the names of kings
> >    Did the kings haul up the lumps of rock?
> >                                 Bertolt Brecht