Discover Archaeological Evidence

M74 Dig research context

Some aspects of the M74 dig differ from people’s perceptions of what constitutes ‘archaeology’.  This is mainly because the majority of the remains uncovered are less than 200 years old. However, there are many reasons for such an in-depth exploration of the recent historic past. 

The research aims of the M74 Dig are set out in full in the downloadable document M74 Completion Cultural Heritage Evaluation: Phase II Part 1: Research Context and are summarized here. 

Access other downloadable resources associated with the M74 Dig. 

The excavation took place with several general research themes in mind, briefly these are:

• industrial technologies/processes
• works operations
• working environment
• working practices and conditions, and the social aspects of industrial production
• urban land use
• domestic industry
• consumer behaviour
• everyday political activity
• class differentiation and conflict
• cultural, ethnic, and national identity
• gender relationships
• popular culture

These themes are not only significant to our understanding of the recent past, but are of enduring importance to our understanding of the modern world and modern society

Despite their age, the sites excavated in the M74 Dig have great potential to aid our understanding of the recent historic past.  The historic environment takes diverse forms, and potentially significant built and archaeological remains derive from all periods of our past.  The historic environment can change and expand, with new environments being created and becoming historic in time (Historic Scotland 2002, 16). 

There is added significance in the sites selected for the M74 Dig, as they were excavated as a group.  This group value presents an opportunity to get a comprehensive view of industrial society, and to understand technologies, working practices, and the work environment.

Even for the recent historic past where documentary evidence and maps are available, it is recognised that it is never possible to fully understand Scotland’s history by reference to written material alone (Historic Scotland and the Scottish Office 1995, para 2.1.3).  Archaeology can add to documentary evidence by providing genuinely new information, and by telling us about the practicalities of how things worked in the past.

The archaeological sites are split into two main groups: industrial and domestic.

Industrial
Archaeology forms a vital contribution to our understanding of the industrialisation of Scotland.  The results of the M74 Dig can aid our understanding of the history and development of modern Glasgow and Scotland, and put it in the context of wider global industrial and urban history.

We can learn about industrial processes and inventions from plans and contemporary accounts, however archaeology tells us about how the inventions actually worked and what modifications and adaptations were made to systems.  It can also provide information on the properties of materials and on the physics, chemistry and metallurgy of past production processes and technologies (Cranstone 2001, 184).

Domestic
Artefacts and back-lot features have been studied in groups of tenements buildings, cottages and workers' housing, to reveal information on diet, socio-economic differentiation, domestic behaviour, land use, cultural practices and the development of the urban garden. 

The study of back-lot features such as privies can tell us about sanitation and changing attitudes towards cleanliness over time.  Artefacts can tell us much about various types of food purchased and consumed, how gender relationships operated and changed through time, and evidence for variations in behaviour between different socio-economic classes.

Small-scale domestic industries were also investigated, with potential to provide evidence on continuing domestic industry in the industrial era, and the relationship of domestic life to life in the wider world, in terms of leisure activity and working life.

References
Cranstone, D. 2001 ‘Industrial archaeology – manufacturing a new society’, in Newman, R, 183-210.

Historic Scotland & The Scottish Office. 1995. The care of historic buildings and ancient monuments by government departments in Scotland. Edinburgh.

Historic Scotland. 2002. Passed to the future: Historic Scotland’s policy for the sustainable management of the historic environment. Edinburgh: Historic Scotland.

Newman, R. 2001.The historical archaeology of Britain, c1540–1900, with D. Cranstone and C. Howard-Davis. Stroud: Sutton Publishing.