Proto-industrial archaeology

Archéotech SA has been commissioned to study and survey numerous proto-industrial installations. In the French part of Switzerland, the company has intervened among other places on the sites of Saint-George, Saint-Légier, Genolier, Donneloye, Lussery, Champagne, Villars-sous-Yens and the mills of Vauseyon in Neuchâtel. In the Canton of Valais, on a commission of the Cultural Property Protection Service, Archéotech SA proceeded to survey and study the installations of Sarreyer, Borgeaud, Isérables and mostly those of the factory site of Liddes. This mandate led Archéotech SA to collaborate in a multidisciplinary study directed by Professor Paul-Louis Pelet of the University of Lausanne. This research came to a publication mixing historical, ethnographical and technical studies; the company has contributed on the latter part with surveys and technical descriptions of all the installations.

During these years, Archéotech SA tried to develop a global approach related to these installations, accumulating general documentation and bibliographic references.

Nowadays, data acquisition technologies the company uses help reference this kind of buildings with an exhaustiveness and speed never before reached. The wealth of information provided by laser scanning also helps third parties use raw data and thus preserve at least virtually this heritage.