Periodic Reporting for period 1 - INPACT (INdustrialization and the Process of modernity: the ArChaeological Transformation of the rural world (18th-21st c.))
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2021-10-04 do 2023-10-03
The project “Industrialization and the process of modernity: the archaeological transformation of the rural world (18th-21st c.)” (INPACT) aims to investigate how the relationship between local communities and their environment changed as rural areas became industrialized, by analysing material evidence from archaeological and environmental perspectives. The project’s basic hypothesis is that the process of industrialization entailed a complex process of transformation of the rural communities involved, with a far-reaching local and material dimension that has thus far been undervalued but played a key role in creating and reproducing social and gender inequalities and in the transformation of the landscape that continues to this day.
This project tackles different current societies’ concerns regarding the relationship between society and landscape. INPACT analyses the significance of industrialization in the process of transformation of past rural societies into industrial ones, and thus dealing with the historical emergence of the modern world. Moreover, the project aims at overcoming the traditional analytical separation between society and landscape involving them in dialectical and complex processes of transformation. Hence it delves into the significance of industrialization in the current environmental problems such as climate change or sustainability, as well as the capacity of societies and landscape to cope with these changes. As an archaeological case study based, it also deals with the history of specific local communities and their relationship with past and current landscapes.
INPACT’s overall research aim is to question the concept of ‘modernity’ by analysing the changes in the relationship between rural societies and landscapes during the process of industrialization, in order to better understand how current rural societies came into being. This general approach form the basis of INPACT’s three core research objectives which are: 1) to characterize pre-industrial societies and landscapes as two interrelated phenomena, exploring the impact of industrialization from the 18th c.; 2) to explore the potential existence of social and gender inequalities within early industrial societies from an archaeological point of view; and 3) to build an interdisciplinary framework to analyse the impact of industrialization on pre-industrial societies and landscapes.
This project tackles different current societies’ concerns regarding the relationship between society and landscape. INPACT analyses the significance of industrialization in the process of transformation of past rural societies into industrial ones, and thus dealing with the historical emergence of the modern world. Moreover, the project aims at overcoming the traditional analytical separation between society and landscape involving them in dialectical and complex processes of transformation. Hence it delves into the significance of industrialization in the current environmental problems such as climate change or sustainability, as well as the capacity of societies and landscape to cope with these changes. As an archaeological case study based, it also deals with the history of specific local communities and their relationship with past and current landscapes.
INPACT’s overall research aim is to question the concept of ‘modernity’ by analysing the changes in the relationship between rural societies and landscapes during the process of industrialization, in order to better understand how current rural societies came into being. This general approach form the basis of INPACT’s three core research objectives which are: 1) to characterize pre-industrial societies and landscapes as two interrelated phenomena, exploring the impact of industrialization from the 18th c.; 2) to explore the potential existence of social and gender inequalities within early industrial societies from an archaeological point of view; and 3) to build an interdisciplinary framework to analyse the impact of industrialization on pre-industrial societies and landscapes.
The main hypothesis of the project was tested by applying the theoretical background and research strategies of the Archaeology of Environmental Resources and Archaeology of Architecture, joined through the perspective of Social Archaeology. Thus, INPACT carried out an interdisciplinary analysis which took as its case study the village of Casaio, Galicia (NW Spain), located in a mountainous region called Serra do Eixe. There, three specific areas were studied in order to understand the historical process of industrialization and the impact it had both for local communities and landscapes: Casaio’s common lands; three different tungsten mines; and a deserted neighbourhood called Rumiña. The project comprised different five research phases, which were:
1) Documentary analysis: which provided with a good number of documents with information of the social and economic background of Casaio during the 18th-20th centuries.
2) Extra-site and intra-site fieldwork: INPACT’s team conducted up to five different fieldwork campaigns, including one extensive survey; two archaeological excavation campaigns; and two archaeobotanical sampling campaigns aiming at collection environmental data.
3) Ethnographic reconstruction: it was based on the analysis of thirty-three interviews that have already been conducted, which were expanded to four additional semi-structured interviews.
4) Laboratory analysis: the laboratory analysis focused on dendrological, anthracological and pollen analysis, which gave a lot of information of the environmental conditions prior and after the industrialization processes.
5) Data processing and interpretation: all the information was processed through different digital and the analysis of the material culture recovered during fieldwork was performed.
In a nutshell, the most important results included the deep characterisation of local communities in northwestern Iberia before the process of industrialization, while building a complex understanding of the management of resources through the common lands. After the project, we were able to construct a very specific local history of the process of modernity in Casaio between mid 19th to 21st centuries divided in five different phases, which serve as a model for other territories in Western Europe. Moreover, the characterisation of the material impact of industrialization both in society and the landscapes gives potential insights on the question of sustainability in rural areas.
All these results were disseminated through open lectures, a photographic and artistic exhibition, the co-creation of a local museum and the heritage protection of the archaeological sites.
1) Documentary analysis: which provided with a good number of documents with information of the social and economic background of Casaio during the 18th-20th centuries.
2) Extra-site and intra-site fieldwork: INPACT’s team conducted up to five different fieldwork campaigns, including one extensive survey; two archaeological excavation campaigns; and two archaeobotanical sampling campaigns aiming at collection environmental data.
3) Ethnographic reconstruction: it was based on the analysis of thirty-three interviews that have already been conducted, which were expanded to four additional semi-structured interviews.
4) Laboratory analysis: the laboratory analysis focused on dendrological, anthracological and pollen analysis, which gave a lot of information of the environmental conditions prior and after the industrialization processes.
5) Data processing and interpretation: all the information was processed through different digital and the analysis of the material culture recovered during fieldwork was performed.
In a nutshell, the most important results included the deep characterisation of local communities in northwestern Iberia before the process of industrialization, while building a complex understanding of the management of resources through the common lands. After the project, we were able to construct a very specific local history of the process of modernity in Casaio between mid 19th to 21st centuries divided in five different phases, which serve as a model for other territories in Western Europe. Moreover, the characterisation of the material impact of industrialization both in society and the landscapes gives potential insights on the question of sustainability in rural areas.
All these results were disseminated through open lectures, a photographic and artistic exhibition, the co-creation of a local museum and the heritage protection of the archaeological sites.
Modernity has commonly been understood as a progressive and unidirectional passage from ‘traditional’ to ‘modern’ societies. As a result, the scholarship has largely overlooked the many ways in which the relationships between local communities and the environment have been transformed through time.
In this regard, INPACT project has supposed a progress beyond the state of the art in theoretical, methodological and empirical terms. Regarding the theoretical aspects of the project, it has challenged the traditional concept of modernity when considering it not from an abstract top-down approach but from an inductive bottom-up perspective. From a methodological point of view, INPACT project supposes a step forward in the implementation of an archaeological perspective to analyse the process of modernity. Finally, from an empirical perspective the project has deeply characterised the process of modernity. It has established not only a particular periodization but also has proportioned general historic models for their application to other case studies in Western Europe.
The expected results include a precise historic account of the transition to modernity from a material point of view, deeply characterising the specific material features that were impact through the industrialization process. Moreover, the deep analysis of the industrial tungsten mining in the territory of Casaio tackles not only questions such as the modern emergence of social and gender inequalities, but also can serve as a model for other similar industrial analysis. The systematic application of GIS analysis and archaeobotanical studies will proportion new insights on the impact of industries on the landscapes and the management of common lands, which can serve not only to tackle environmental issues such as sustainability and circular economies, but also to give new directions in the implementation of policies regarding the rural milieu. Finally, in heritage terms, this project will protect some of the archaeological sites under the Bien de Interés Cultural heritage status, while transferring all the results to public society through a local museum created in association with the local community.
In this regard, INPACT project has supposed a progress beyond the state of the art in theoretical, methodological and empirical terms. Regarding the theoretical aspects of the project, it has challenged the traditional concept of modernity when considering it not from an abstract top-down approach but from an inductive bottom-up perspective. From a methodological point of view, INPACT project supposes a step forward in the implementation of an archaeological perspective to analyse the process of modernity. Finally, from an empirical perspective the project has deeply characterised the process of modernity. It has established not only a particular periodization but also has proportioned general historic models for their application to other case studies in Western Europe.
The expected results include a precise historic account of the transition to modernity from a material point of view, deeply characterising the specific material features that were impact through the industrialization process. Moreover, the deep analysis of the industrial tungsten mining in the territory of Casaio tackles not only questions such as the modern emergence of social and gender inequalities, but also can serve as a model for other similar industrial analysis. The systematic application of GIS analysis and archaeobotanical studies will proportion new insights on the impact of industries on the landscapes and the management of common lands, which can serve not only to tackle environmental issues such as sustainability and circular economies, but also to give new directions in the implementation of policies regarding the rural milieu. Finally, in heritage terms, this project will protect some of the archaeological sites under the Bien de Interés Cultural heritage status, while transferring all the results to public society through a local museum created in association with the local community.