Industrial Archaeological Research On Wenzhou Alum Mine From The Perspective Of The History Of Technology

Wenzhou Alum Mine is located in the territory of Fanshan Town and its surrounding townships in Cangnan County,Zhejiang Province(P.R.China).Following foreign industrial archaeology theories and methods,we investigated the mining sites and alum refining sites situated in the three mine sections of Dagang Mountain,Shuiwei Mountain and Jilong Mountain.In doing so,we combined material and archaeological sources,archival records,visual documents and oral accounts.We cross-read all these data and research on the industrial archaeology of Wenzhou Alum Mine from the perspective of the history of technology.Firstly,we studied the history of Wenzhou Alum Mine and its historical influence using classical literature and written sources.We analyzed each site and their scientific connotations based on their material remains.Secondly,we investigated the "water immersion" alum refining process and the evolution of the facilities in Wenzhou Alum Mine crossing field investigation and historical literature.Combining historical documents and oral accounts,we produced a schematic diagram of the structure of the different types of furnaces and roasters used in our case study,which showed the evolution of these pieces of technology.Thirdly,we discussed the uniqueness of the alum smelting technology in Wenzhou Alum Mine comparing ancient and modern Chinese processes to foreign ones.Finally,and based on our industrial archaeological research,we drew some general thoughts on industrial archaeology’s objects,purposes,theories and methods,as well as future directions.The main advances in knowledge produced in this PhD dissertation are:It was determined that the history of Wenzhou Alum Mine started in March 1411.The exploitation began as a private business in the early Qing Dynasty,it turned into a government-ran business in the middle of the Qing Dynasty,and it was re-setup as a private joint-stock enterprise in the late Qing Dynasty.During the Republic of China(1912-1949),the business was supervised by the government.Between 1924 and 1928,alum was sold at home and abroad.Then,a large alum industrial culture and trade exchange network were formed among different countries and regions,including Siam,Java,Philippines,Annan,Singpore,India,North Korea,Australia,and Honolulu(USA),among others.From 1956 onwards,Wenzhou Alum Mine experienced the socialist transformation and was gradually converted into a state-owned enterprise.During all these phases,many experiments and foreign collaborative studies on the comprehensive exploitation and technological transformation of alum mineral resources were carried out in Wenzhou Alum Mine.However,the traditional "water immersion" alum refining process was kept all along.The field investigation revealed that mining operations started with the open-cast system,although underground mining was adopted later,initially following the vein method.From 1949 onwards,the extraction adopted the room-and-pillar method.The research showed that the vein method was predominant in the Xiguang and Xuehuaku mining sites,while in the mine cave groups of Shuiwei Mountain and Jilong Mountain the room-and-pillar method was more usual.As it is well-known,the profitability and design of an exploitation in the mining industry depends to a great extent on the nature of the reserves and the quality and technical feasibility of the resources.However,this study has demonstrated that the political and economic contexts of the country or region where the operations are developed also play a fundamental role in determining the strategies,models and methods to follow.This was clearly noticeable after 1949,when the location and layout of the main factory of Wenzhou Alum Mine were set up in accordance with the theory of modern industrial geography and reflected a balanced interconnection among social economy,natural resources and the environment,and science and technology.The study of the historical literature,the field investigation materials and the data from oral history,let us understand the development of the "water immersion"process,used in Wenzhou Alum Mine for more than 600 years,and its four-step core(calcination-weathering-dissolution-crystallization).The research showed that the process was relatively conservative,although the technology and facilities used in it evolved constantly.The most obvious changes were in the refining furnaces,which went through four different generations:first-generation "turtle stove";second-generation intermittent furnace,ran on firewood;third-generation coal-fueled "intermittent furnace";and fourth-generation coal-fueled "continuous roaster".At the same time,it was found that before the 1960s,heating and dissolution were developed mainly using the countercurrent circulation washing method.Again,the layout of alum mining and refining sites followed the principle of least effort.The topography of the sites was arranged from high to low,while the principle of saving labor was of great significance before mechanization,especially in the ancient mining production.Finally,the scopes,aims,theories and methods of industrial archaeology were discussed comparing some Western case studies to our study on Wenzhou Alum Mine.From our point of view,this PhD paper demonstrates that industrial archaeology can produce important advances in knowledge when historical literature research and field archaeological investigations are combined.Industrial archaeology,as an interdisciplinary discipline able to deal with all the sources of information available,can certainly offer diachronic and comprehensive interpretations of the sites,their industrial history,and their scientific and cultural connotations.On the other hand,we believe that the history of technology is a fundamental perspective on the study of technological evolution,which is essential to better understand and assess industrial heritage.