Packaging the iron industry: technological packages and evolutionary archaeology
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.main##
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.sidebar##
Published
Nov 8, 2021
Abstract
This paper suggests that the development of ironmaking in Britain can be viewed in terms of a sequence of five ‘technological packages’ forming periods of technological stability separated by periods of rapid change and high variation termed ‘punctuations’. This analysis suggests that the next generation of research should focus on technological change in the ‘punctuations’ and on the applicability, or otherwise, of the same broad model to other industries, periods and geographical areas. This paper also explores the relationship of the model to current evolutionary theory, focusing on the similarities to Gould’s ‘punctuated equilibrium’ model as opposed to Dawkins’ ‘selfish gene’ and ‘meme’ hypotheses. It aims to complement recent work by Charlton and Juleff, in order to provide critical mass for a broad consideration of the contribution of evolutionary studies to ironmaking technology, and vice versa.
##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.details##
Keywords
References
Bintliff J (ed) 1999, Structure and contingency: evolutionary processes in life and human society (Leicester).
Buchwald V F 2008, Iron, steel and cast iron before Bessemer (Copenhagen).
Carey N 2011, The epigenetics revolution (London).
Charlton M F 2009, ‘Identifying iron production lineages: a case study in Northwest Wales’, in S Shennan (ed) Pattern and process in cultural evolution (London), 133–144.
Cleere H and Crossley D 1985, The iron industry of the Weald (Leicester).
Cranstone D 2012 ‘The panhouse as cradle of industry: coastal saltmaking and the ‘long Industrial Revolution’’, in H Harnow, D Cranstone, P Belford and L Høst-Madsen (eds), Across the North Sea: later historical archaeology in Britain and Denmark, c1500–2000 AD (Odense), 159–174.
Dawkins R 1976, The selfish gene (Oxford).
Dougherty J W D and Keller C M 1982, ‘Taskonomy: a practical approach to knowledge structures’, American Ethologist 9(4), 763–774.
Eldredge N and Gould S J 1972, ‘Punctuated equilibria: an alternative to phyletic gradualism’, in T J M Schopf (ed), Models in paleobiology (San Francisco), 82–115.
Evans C 2005, ‘The Industrial Revolution in iron in the British Isles’, in C Evans and G Rydén, The Industrial Revolution in iron: the impact of British coal technology in nineteenth-century Europe (Aldershot), 15–28.
Evans C and Rydén G 2005, ‘The Industrial Revolution in iron: an introduction’, in C Evans and G Rydén, The Industrial Revolution in iron: the impact of British coal technology in nineteenth-century Europe (Aldershot), 1–14.
Fitzhugh B 2001, ‘Risk and invention in human technological evolution’, Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 20¸ 125–167.
af Geijerstam J and Nisser M (eds) 2011, Swedish mining and metalworking – past and present (Stockholm).
Gould S J 1989, Wonderful life: the Burgess Shale and the nature of history (London).
Gould S J 1999, ‘Introduction: the scales of contingency and punctuation in history’, in J Bintliff (ed), Structure and contingency: evolutionary processes in life and human society (Leicester), ix-xxii.
Gould S J 2002, The structure of evolutionary theory (Harvard). Grafen A and Ridley M (eds) 2006, Richard Dawkins: how a scientist changed the way we think (Oxford).
Greene K 1994, ‘Technology and innovation in context: the Roman
background to mediaeval and later developments’, Journal of
Roman Archaeology 7, 22–33.
Hayman R 2005. Ironmaking: the history and archaeology of the
iron industry (Stroud).
Juleff G 2009, ‘Technology and evolution: a root and branch view of
Asian iron from first-millenium BC Sri Lanka to Japanese steel’,
World Archaeology 41(4), 557–577.
Kauffman S A 1995, At Home in the Universe: the search for the
laws of self-organisation and complexity (Oxford).
Lake M W and Venti J 2009, ‘Quantitative analysis of macroevolutionary
patterning in technological evolution: bicycle design from
1800 to 2000’, in S Shennan (ed), Pattern and process in cultural
evolution (London), 147–161.
Lyman R L and O’Brien M 1998, ‘The goals of evolutionary
archaeology: history and explanation’, Current Anthropology
39(5), 615–652.
Mokyr J 1990, ‘Punctuated equilibria and technological progress’,
American Economic Review 80(2), 350–354.
Penman J 2014, Biohistory: decline and fall of the West (Newcastle
upon Tyne).
Penman J 2015, Biohistory (Newcastle upon Tyne).
Schot J 1998, ‘The usefulness of evolutionary models for explaining
innovation: the case of the Netherlands in the nineteenth century’,
History and Technology 14(3), 173–200.
Schubert H R 1957, History of the British iron and steel industry
(London).
Shennan S 2002, Genes, memes and human history (London).
Shennan S (ed) 2009, Pattern and process in cultural evolution
(London).
Tylecote R F 1976, A history of metallurgy (London).
Tylecote R F 1986, The prehistory of metallurgy in the British Isles
(London).
Tylecote R F 1987, The early history of metallurgy in Europe
(London).
Tylecote R F 1991, ‘Iron in the Industrial Revolution’, in J Day
and R F Tylecote, The Industrial Revolution in metals (London),
200–260.
Wagner D F 2007, Science and civilisation in China. Vol 5: chemistry
and chemical technology. Part 11: ferrous metallurgy
(Cambridge).
Wikipedia 2015, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Jay_Gould
(consulted 20 April 2015).
Young T P and Poyner D 2014, ‘Two medieval bloomery sites
in Shropshire: the adoption of water power for iron smelting’,
Historical Metallurgy 46(2), 78–97.
Buchwald V F 2008, Iron, steel and cast iron before Bessemer (Copenhagen).
Carey N 2011, The epigenetics revolution (London).
Charlton M F 2009, ‘Identifying iron production lineages: a case study in Northwest Wales’, in S Shennan (ed) Pattern and process in cultural evolution (London), 133–144.
Cleere H and Crossley D 1985, The iron industry of the Weald (Leicester).
Cranstone D 2012 ‘The panhouse as cradle of industry: coastal saltmaking and the ‘long Industrial Revolution’’, in H Harnow, D Cranstone, P Belford and L Høst-Madsen (eds), Across the North Sea: later historical archaeology in Britain and Denmark, c1500–2000 AD (Odense), 159–174.
Dawkins R 1976, The selfish gene (Oxford).
Dougherty J W D and Keller C M 1982, ‘Taskonomy: a practical approach to knowledge structures’, American Ethologist 9(4), 763–774.
Eldredge N and Gould S J 1972, ‘Punctuated equilibria: an alternative to phyletic gradualism’, in T J M Schopf (ed), Models in paleobiology (San Francisco), 82–115.
Evans C 2005, ‘The Industrial Revolution in iron in the British Isles’, in C Evans and G Rydén, The Industrial Revolution in iron: the impact of British coal technology in nineteenth-century Europe (Aldershot), 15–28.
Evans C and Rydén G 2005, ‘The Industrial Revolution in iron: an introduction’, in C Evans and G Rydén, The Industrial Revolution in iron: the impact of British coal technology in nineteenth-century Europe (Aldershot), 1–14.
Fitzhugh B 2001, ‘Risk and invention in human technological evolution’, Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 20¸ 125–167.
af Geijerstam J and Nisser M (eds) 2011, Swedish mining and metalworking – past and present (Stockholm).
Gould S J 1989, Wonderful life: the Burgess Shale and the nature of history (London).
Gould S J 1999, ‘Introduction: the scales of contingency and punctuation in history’, in J Bintliff (ed), Structure and contingency: evolutionary processes in life and human society (Leicester), ix-xxii.
Gould S J 2002, The structure of evolutionary theory (Harvard). Grafen A and Ridley M (eds) 2006, Richard Dawkins: how a scientist changed the way we think (Oxford).
Greene K 1994, ‘Technology and innovation in context: the Roman
background to mediaeval and later developments’, Journal of
Roman Archaeology 7, 22–33.
Hayman R 2005. Ironmaking: the history and archaeology of the
iron industry (Stroud).
Juleff G 2009, ‘Technology and evolution: a root and branch view of
Asian iron from first-millenium BC Sri Lanka to Japanese steel’,
World Archaeology 41(4), 557–577.
Kauffman S A 1995, At Home in the Universe: the search for the
laws of self-organisation and complexity (Oxford).
Lake M W and Venti J 2009, ‘Quantitative analysis of macroevolutionary
patterning in technological evolution: bicycle design from
1800 to 2000’, in S Shennan (ed), Pattern and process in cultural
evolution (London), 147–161.
Lyman R L and O’Brien M 1998, ‘The goals of evolutionary
archaeology: history and explanation’, Current Anthropology
39(5), 615–652.
Mokyr J 1990, ‘Punctuated equilibria and technological progress’,
American Economic Review 80(2), 350–354.
Penman J 2014, Biohistory: decline and fall of the West (Newcastle
upon Tyne).
Penman J 2015, Biohistory (Newcastle upon Tyne).
Schot J 1998, ‘The usefulness of evolutionary models for explaining
innovation: the case of the Netherlands in the nineteenth century’,
History and Technology 14(3), 173–200.
Schubert H R 1957, History of the British iron and steel industry
(London).
Shennan S 2002, Genes, memes and human history (London).
Shennan S (ed) 2009, Pattern and process in cultural evolution
(London).
Tylecote R F 1976, A history of metallurgy (London).
Tylecote R F 1986, The prehistory of metallurgy in the British Isles
(London).
Tylecote R F 1987, The early history of metallurgy in Europe
(London).
Tylecote R F 1991, ‘Iron in the Industrial Revolution’, in J Day
and R F Tylecote, The Industrial Revolution in metals (London),
200–260.
Wagner D F 2007, Science and civilisation in China. Vol 5: chemistry
and chemical technology. Part 11: ferrous metallurgy
(Cambridge).
Wikipedia 2015, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Jay_Gould
(consulted 20 April 2015).
Young T P and Poyner D 2014, ‘Two medieval bloomery sites
in Shropshire: the adoption of water power for iron smelting’,
Historical Metallurgy 46(2), 78–97.
How to Cite
Cranstone, D. (2021). Packaging the iron industry: technological packages and evolutionary archaeology. Historical Metallurgy, 48(1 & 2), 99-105. https://www.hmsjournal.org/index.php/home/article/view/96
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Cranstone, D. (2021). Packaging the iron industry: technological packages and evolutionary archaeology. Historical Metallurgy, 48(1 & 2), 99-105. https://www.hmsjournal.org/index.php/home/article/view/96