Tutkimuksen ja kulttuuriperinnön jännitteitä

Teollisuusarkeologian historia Suomessa

Authors

• Visa Immonen
• Maija Mäki
• J.-P. Taavitsainen

Abstract

Tensions of research and heritage – The history of industrial archaeology in FinlandIn the present article, we analyse how archaeology became part of the study of industrial heritage in Finland in the 20th and 21st centuries. Industrial archaeology has a long, though fragmentary history in the country. The first archaeological investigations on industrial sites took place in the 1930s. However, research did not became systematic until the 1980s, and the turning point institutionally and in terms of the diversity of research occurred in the 1990s. Despite this long history, a disciplinary discussion on the key concepts in Finnish industrial archaeology are still missing as well as the analysis on the nature of knowledge that the discipline produces. We trace these problems to the lack of scholars specialising in industrial archaeology, and to the fact that most fieldworks are still being carried out only in advance of land development, e.g. when tourism is introduced to an industrial site. Throughout its research history, Finnish industrial archaeology has created means for the required conceptual work, but explication and analysis is also needed. We argue that becoming aware of this long history, the task and disciplinary specificity of industrial archaeology could be more clearly construed. This will allow handling better its problematic aspects, and take an active role in defining the relationship between industrial archaeology and heritage management.