Industrial & Domestic Waste Analysis

SASAA industrial and domestic waste analysis encompasses all archaeological and historical wastes. By examining wastes, we can derive information about the precise nature of the industry or domestic process as per individual site.

Our analyses focus on practice rather than process. By that we mean that the unique aspects of each site's activities in making or working of artefacts are highlighted rather than merely from the point of view of 'technology.' While issues such as slag typology or furnace design (e.g. has a shaft or bowl furnace been used in ironmaking?) are important to address (and are of course addressed by SASAA), they are nevertheless secondary to issues relating to the cultural and economic setting of the activity and the conditions under which it is carried out. Technical characterisation of these activities is the first step towards understanding these issues.

See links below and our Reports and Publications for further information.

 

Industrial Wastes

Puddling furnace waste. Industrial mineral waste. Bronze melting slag. ©SASAA.

Domestic and low-temperature wastes

 

 

 

Fish curing waste. Cramp. Vitrified fuel ash. ©SASAA.

Industrial and domestic waste analysis is carried out using a range of established analytical techniques, as appropriate to the materials under scrutiny: