Capturing the industrial tangible… and the technological intangible

Abstract

What is industrial heritage? This question is key to the papers presented in this collection. Authors specialising in the particular fields have enquired into the definition of the term, as this turned out to be a main concern. The natural tendency when dealing with the subject is to associate the term with a particular period in time - modern industry connected to the Industrial Revolution. However, the term has a wider scope and deals with the physical remains of the history of technology and industry. This characterization broadens the research field. This concept therefore includes the Neolithic tools found in prehistoric temples or the olive presses found in Roman remains. The artefacts are now seen from different perspectives, and give different insights on their functionality, concept of design, sociological information, material used and many other models which all need to be interpreted.