Industrial Archeology
Industrial archeologists study and measure industrial sites and structures, document them without removing artifacts, and encourage their preservation or adaptive reuse. Industrial archeologists combine their fieldwork with other sources to arrive at a better understanding of the time period, industry, or technology in question. To bring the site to life and put it into a meaningful human and industrial context, they interview retired workers, visit still-active industrial sites, examine museum collections, and study old photographs, trade catalogs, memoirs, correspondence, corporate records, and publications.

Industrial archeology emerged as a field of study in Britain in the early 1950s. It spread to the United States in the early 1960s and gained strength after the opening of the Smithsonian's Museum of History and Technology (later renamed the National Museum of American History) in 1964.

Industrial archeology developed from the recognition that industrial sites were historically important and that many were in danger of disappearing. The field also arose from the realization that many artifacts of the industrial age were too big or too site-specific to preserve in a museum setting.

What is Field work?