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Sten.doc
Cultural heritage can be the cut stone you trip over
in the forest. Perhaps it was quarried by a young stone worker, building
a dance pavilion together with his friends. This would be a place where
young people could meet without the penetrating eyes of the elder generation.
Cultural heritage can be industry or cottages, it can be a trestle for
drying seine-nets or a crude-oil engine and all things in between. Childhood
games, school, the dance pavilion or the cinema are other examples. Cultural
heritage is also the creation of ideas when people come together in meetings
and organisations.
The protection of our cultural heritage is not so clear today, as that
of the prehistoric monuments. It is up to us all to look after it, although
it is within the administration of the society where the main decisions
have to be made. One of the issues of administrative planning is a sound
environment. A sound environment ought to be based on local traditions,
the cultural heritage.
Rio Culture Cooperative works with protection, education, and establishing
the cultural heritage in word, vision and also for the archives.
Sten.doc
During the spring Rio Culture Cooperative has been working with documentation
of remains from the quarrying and granite industry in the municipality
of Sotenäs. The local authorities of Sotenäs commissioned the
project. The purpose of this pilot project is to develop a method and
terminology to aid further complimentary surveys and documentation. The
report is now finished and the book will be published the 12th of August
2004. It can be bought from the publisher.
Foreword
This report was initiated by the local authorities of Sotenäs. In
the environmental planning, the local and the regional authorities have
observed the need to identify, protect and use the history of the granite
industry.
Part of the future heritage work is to proceed from protection to the
usage of the cultural heritage. This demands a greater knowledge of what
it is we are protecting to be able to use it in a way suited to the society
of today, but also to the historical processes that have made the society
of today. We must therefore make sure that the documentation does not
only treat the physical remains but also the non-material structures.
This report is a trial of how to describe and estimate historical remains
from the days of the granite industry in environmental planning. In part
1 this method for description of material and non-material remains is
presented. In part 2 the procedure has been tested on the planning of
the area Kvarnmyren in Ulebergshamn. An important part of the work has
been to try out different methods for documentation, to find a balance
between cost and degree of detail in the documentation.
A reference group has participated with an evaluation of the way the work
was done. Views, which we have tried to be influenced by, were given of
a first version of the report. The views finally expressed in the report
are nevertheless those of the authors.
Summary part 1
The granite industry in Bohuslän is just over one hundred years old.
During this time there have been great changes in society, most noticeably
towards the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century.
These changes can be summarised in the words industrialisation, modernity
and democratisation, all of an international character.
The development of the town to be a practical and pleasant meeting place
for people and business is one expression of modernity. This meant great
investments in infrastructure. Stone piers were built in the harbour,
streets and marketplaces were paved and main parts of towns were built
of stone houses. Industrialisation of previously hand made products changed
the work conditions and hastened urbanisation. It was at this stage the
temperance movement, labour organisations and non-conformist churches
were founded. In a time of great changes former standards and values were
challenged and new actors were given free scope. All these historical
events can be seen through the material and non-material remains of the
granite industry. The purpose of this study is to create a method and
terminology to make it easier to interpret, evaluate and use these remains.
Material remains
Material remains arise from the technical production and from social life.
The remains from the technical production can be summarised by the concepts;
type of quarry, production, quarrying technique, location and domestic
logistics. The shops, washroom, housing, community hall, school and laundry
are examples of remains of social life.
A description of the type of remains from the technical production can
give an understanding of the time in which the studied area was in use.
This means that it should be possible to find out if the area has been
in use before, between or after the First and Second World War, and also
if it has been used during a longer period of time. An understanding of
the society, of which the production was a part, can be given by studying
the social remains. These studies need to be completed with information
about the non-material remains to be reliable and to be informative of
the people and the processes of that society.
The non-material remains
The non-material remains are the ideas, values and standards that established
people’s behaviour. The traditional standards are often only preserved
as negations, for example in the form of court records when somebody
has broken the standards. On the other hand there was a need for the
new standards to be manifested in writing. The ownership and organisation
of the firms associated with the granite industry is also informative.
It is of interest if the firms were privately owned, co-operatively owned,
Swedish or foreign. This type of information can be found in the archives
of organisations, firms, parishes or communities. Other valuable sources
of information are informants, people with personal memories of the conditions
of the time.
Interpretation
When the basic documentation is done the use for educational purposes
and the potential for research work is estimated. A specification of the
value of the material and non-material remains is made. The educational
value depends on how clear and readable the material remains are. Their
original status and how visible their relation is to one another are other
things considered. The use of the material for research work depends to
a great extent on the state of the archives and whether they can enable
more comprehensive studies.
The concepts actor and system should seriously be considered in the analyses.
It can be of great value if the study gives a good insight into a part
of the society through highlighting an actor, i.e. a person, organisation
or a firm. The same can be said if the study illuminates a system or a
major phase in the society, for instance a certain period of time, the
trade union movement or women’s work in building society.
The method
The aim of the method is to create an understanding of the conditions
and the chronology of the production in an area of historical granite
industry by describing the physical remains. This makes it possible to
collect relevant information from archives and informants to make an interpretation
of the social system represented by the remains.
Three methods for documentation are suggested in the study:
1. Detailed analyses, suitable for historical documentation. Includes
a detailed description of features in the field, together with archive
studies.
2. Detailed description of the area, suitable for background studies within
environmental planning. Includes a comprehensive description in the field
of features associated to each other geographically or through production
technique. The archives are studied to find out what kind of material
they contain and what is relevant to the studied area.
3. A general description of the area for less detailed background work
and surveys. Includes a characterisation of larger and more uniform areas.
A less detailed survey of the archives is made, at the least the local
archives are examined.
Summary part 2
The documentation of Kvarnmyrsberget
The material remains
Within the area of Kvarnmyrsberget there are over 40 quarries. Most of
these have work places for preparation of the stone, close by. Heaps of
stone waste mark many of the work places. The working areas and waste
heaps show that these quarries have produced mainly larger road stones
and kerbstones. Wedges have dominated the cleaving technique. It can be
seen from the majority of the bore-holes that a steel collar has been
used for the hand-bored holes. The roads in the quarry area are narrow,
often only about 2 metres wide. Quarrying has cut off parts of the roads.
The methods of production show that the quarries were in use before the
First World War. The roads that were cut off show that the quarries have
been in use during a long period of time. It is reasonable to believe
that the working areas at Kvarnmyrsberget represent several decades of
work.
More modern quarrying techniques are visible in a few places in the western
and southern part of the quarry. There is nevertheless no sign of any
work after the 1920’s.
There were two shipping ports in the community. In time the work places
for preparation of the stone were established close to the ports.
There are several remains of the social history of this period in Ulebergshamn;
schools, Community Hall and housing.
Non-material remains
The state of the archives concerning Ulebergshamn is quite good. Main
parts of the trade union archives are still intact. A lot can be found
from the Community Hall. Several of the archives of the firms associated
with Ulebergshamn have survived in part. There are very many people in
Ulebergshamn who are interested in and have a great knowledge of the granite
industry. Most of these are active in “Ulebergshamn Då och
Nu” (Ulebergshamn Then and Now) and in the local sewing circle.
An insight into the working life of the quarry workers can be found in
the minutes of the Quarry Workers Union section 80 in Uleberghamn. Political
questions, questions of workers rights and industrial safety were negotiated.
It was also through the trade union that the decision was made to start
a Community Hall Association. During the first decades the Community Hall
also housed a Consumers Co-operative society.
The records show which firms established themselves in Ulebergshamn. Of
these K.O. Mattson, V.E Molléns, Freeman & Sons and N.S Beer
can be especially mentioned.
Conclusion
The greatest logistical problem of the early days of the granite industry
was transport. Good rock near a shipping port was therefore desirable.
The deep harbour of Ulebergshamn made the rock in the vicinity attractive.
Kvarnmyrsberget is an example of the rock used for small scale quarrying
in these early days.
The social infrastructure built up in the community during the days of
the granite industry, through the efforts of organisations and the provision
of housing, is still a significant part of Uleberghamn.
There is a great educational potential in the quarrying area of Kvarnmyrsbergen
as it can easily be understood in production-technical terms. This is
benefited by the close location to the community and the shipping port.
The interest of the inhabitants in their local history is another important
aspect.
The possibilities for research work are good because of the rich archive
material. There are also several informants with a direct or indirect
knowledge of the granite industry.
© 2004 Åsa Algotsson och Stig Swedberg
Rio Kulturkooperativ
Translation: Judith Crawford
Rio Kulturkooperativ/Kulturhistoria
Ekelidsvägen 5
457 40 FJÄLLBACKA
Sweden
+46(0)708/65 67 39
rio@riokultur.se
Sidan uppdaterad
6 Februari, 2009
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