Reconstructions as an Aid to History

There are questions in the history of technology that cannot be addressed by the methods used in other branches of history. All history draws upon documentary evidence, which in the history of technology or architecture includes drawings as well as written sources, but in both of these subjects historians also have recourse to the techniques of the archaeologist, i.e. the examination of surviving artefacts. However there are questions concerning aspects of technology that cannot be answered even with this expanded range of evidence. Such questions vary depending upon the particular branch of technology, but commonly concern the methods of construction or the operating characteristics of an artefact. A common feature of many of these issues is that they involve facts that might not have been recorded at the time but which were either significant to the development or use of some artefact or have affected the general development of that branch of technology. It is in these circumstances that some form of reconstruction can provide useful data. The general question thus raised is the form that such reconstructions should take in order correctly to address the questions at hand. While much has been written on the use and interpretation of documentary sources, little has been written on the use of reconstructions. The essential points to address are: the definition of a reconstruction, their purpose and the forms that they take, the sources of evidence and the interpretation of the data they provide.