Technology Past and Present: An Exploration In Agricultural Archaeology
View/ Open
Abstract
This book examines the history of technology specific to the area of agriculture. Technology exists as a product of culture, and can therefore be studied through the field of anthropology, even more specifically archaeology. The study of past cultural objects can enhance what we know as humans and influence the future technology that we evolve.
The results of this research are expressed through another cultural object: a building. The outcome of the research presents itself as a facility for the study of technological farming artifacts, removed from fields where they lay rusting into part of the landscape to expose to the public methods of understanding history and the present. The facility lies in the heart of west central Minnesota just south of Rollag, surrounded by acres of farmland and rolling hills. The facility is just over 50,000 square feet.