Visual Memories of the marble industry: Using Cinema and Photography in Mining Heritage Studies

Abstract

The introduction of new techniques and technological equipment into the Portuguese marble industry led to an exponential increase in production and, consequently, to profound environmental and landscape changes. The fact that the techniques had previously been adopted in other marble mining regions, like Wallonia (Belgium) and Carrara (Italy), confirms the standardization of the extraction and transformation process. However, despite using the same technology, each region’s local know-how and landscape features gave rise to different working contexts, many of which are not documented in written sources. Indeed, moving images and iconography prove to be a relevant source for studying local working techniques, machinery adaptations, or work distributions. Visual sources can be used to update previous studies and produce new ones, such as comparisons between quarrying techniques. Furthermore, these images prove to be a suitable and appealing educational instrument to show how technology has changed to allow firms to overcome market challenges and quarry vast mineral deposits.