The term low-technology is a description of those crafts and tool

Tool

A tool is a device that can be used to produce an item or achieve a task, but that is not consumed in the process. Informally the word is also used to describe a procedure or process with a specific purpose. Tools that are used in particular fields or activities may have different designations such...

s whose inception (typically) predates the Industrial Revolution

Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...

.

A test for low-technology may be that it can be practiced or fabricated with a minimum of Capital

Capital (economics)

In economics, capital, capital goods, or real capital refers to already-produced durable goods used in production of goods or services. The capital goods are not significantly consumed, though they may depreciate in the production process...

 investment by an individual or small group of individuals; and that the knowledge of the practice can be completely comprehended by a single individual, free from increasing specialization

Departmentalization

Departmentalization refers to the process of grouping activities into departments.Division of labour creates specialists who need coordination. This coordination is facilitated by grouping specialists together in departments....

 and compartmentalization

Compartmentalization

Compartmentalization or compartmentalisation may refer to:* Compartmentalization * Compartmentalization * Compartmentalization * Compartmentalization...

.

Colloquially, low-technology (or lo-tech - an antonym of hi-tech) has also come to be used as a relative description of more modern techniques and designs to show that they are no longer cutting edge. Lo-tech techniques and designs may fall into disuse due to changing socio-economic conditions or priorities.

Examples of low-technology

Note: almost all of the entries in this section should be prefixed by the word traditional.

• weaving
  Weaving
  Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...
  
   produced on non-automated looms, and basketry.

• hand wood-working, joinery
  Joinery
  Joinery may refer to:* Woodworking joints or other types of mechanical joints * The work of the joiner, the fabrication and installation of fittings in buildings with materials such as wood and aluminum * In Australia and New Zealand, a joinery is also the generic term for a business which...
  
  , coopering, and carpentry
  Carpentry
  A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
  
  .

• the trade of the ship-wright.

• the trade of the wheel-wright
  Wheelwright
  A wheelwright is a person who builds or repairs wheels. The word is the combination of "wheel" and the archaic word "wright", which comes from the Old English word "wryhta", meaning a worker or maker...
  
  .

• the trade of the wainwright
  Wainwright
  A wainwright is a tradesperson skilled in the making and repairing of wagons . The word is the combination of the archaic words "wain" and "wright" .In places:*Canada...
  
  : making wagons. (the Latin word for a two-wheeled wagon is carpentum, the maker of which was a carpenter.)

(Wright is the agent form of the word wrought, which itself is the original past passive participle of the word work, now superseded by the weak verb

Weak verb

Weak verb may refer to:*light verb, or "semantically weak verb", verb participating in complex predication that has little semantic content of its own, but provides through inflection some details on the event semantics, such as aspect, mood, or tense...

 forms worker and worked respectively.)

• blacksmithing and the various related smithing and metal-crafts.

• folk music
  Folk music
  Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
  
   played on acoustic instruments.

• organic farming
  Organic farming
  Organic farming is the form of agriculture that relies on techniques such as crop rotation, green manure, compost and biological pest control to maintain soil productivity and control pests on a farm...
  
   and animal husbandry
  Animal husbandry
  Animal husbandry is the agricultural practice of breeding and raising livestock.- History :Animal husbandry has been practiced for thousands of years, since the first domestication of animals....
  
   (ie; agriculture as practiced by all American farmers prior to World War II).

• milling
  Mill (grinding)
  A grinding mill is a unit operation designed to break a solid material into smaller pieces. There are many different types of grinding mills and many types of materials processed in them. Historically mills were powered by hand , working animal , wind or water...
  
   in the sense of operating hand-constructed equipment with the intent to either grind grain, or the reduction of timber to lumber as practiced in a saw-mill.

• fulling
  Fulling
  Fulling or tucking or walking is a step in woolen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of cloth to eliminate oils, dirt, and other impurities, and making it thicker. The worker who does the job is a fuller, tucker, or walker...
  
   cloth preparing.

• the production of charcoal
  Charcoal
  Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...
  
   by the collier, for use in home heating, foundry
  Foundry
  A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and removing the mold material or casting after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals processed are aluminum and cast iron...
  
   operations, smelting
  Smelting
  Smelting is a form of extractive metallurgy; its main use is to produce a metal from its ore. This includes iron extraction from iron ore, and copper extraction and other base metals from their ores...
  
  , the various smithing trades, and for brushing ones teeth in Colonial America
  Colonial America
  The colonial history of the United States covers the history from the start of European settlement and especially the history of the thirteen colonies of Britain until they declared independence in 1776. In the late 16th century, England, France, Spain and the Netherlands launched major...
  
  .

• glass-blowing.

• various subskills of food preservation
  Food preservation
  Food preservation is the process of treating and handling food to stop or slow down spoilage and thus allow for longer storage....
  
  :
  • smoking
  • salting
    Salting
    Salting may refer to:-People:*George Salting , Australian-born English art collector, who left the Salting Bequest, which included the**Salting Madonna , National Gallery, London-Other:...
    
    
  • pickling
    Pickling
    Pickling, also known as brining or corning is the process of preserving food by anaerobic fermentation in brine to produce lactic acid, or marinating and storing it in an acid solution, usually vinegar . The resulting food is called a pickle. This procedure gives the food a salty or sour taste...
    
    
  • drying
    Drying (food)
    Drying is a method of food preservation that works by removing water from the food, which inhibits the growth of microorganisms and hinders quality decay. Drying food using sun and wind to prevent spoilage has been practised since ancient times, and was the earliest form of food curing...
    
    

Note: home canning

Home canning

Home canning or bottling, also known colloquially as putting up or processing, is the process of preserving foods, in particular, fruits, vegetables, and meats, by packing them into glass jars and then heating the jars to kill the organisms that would create spoilage.- North America :In North...

 is a counter example of a Low-technology since some of the supplies needed to pursue this skill rely on a global trade network and an existing manufacturing infrastructure

Infrastructure

Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...

.

• the production of various alcoholic beverage
  Alcoholic beverage
  An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...
  
  s:
  • wine
    Wine
    Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
    
    : not quite so well preserved fruit juice.
  • beer
    Beer
    Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
    
    : a way to preserve the calories of grain products from decay.
  • whiskey: an improved (distilled) form of beer.

• flint-knapping

• masonry
  Masonry
  Masonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone, marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, stucco, and...
  
   as used in castles, cathedrals, and root cellar
  Root cellar
  A root cellar is a structure built underground or partially underground and used to store vegetables, fruits, and nuts or other foods.-Construction:Common construction methods are:...
  
  s.

the legal status of low-technology

• By Federal law in the United States, only those articles produced with little or no use of machinery or tools with complex mechanisms may be stamped with the designation hand-wrought or hand-made.

• Lengthy court-battles are currently underway over the precise definition of the terms organic and natural as applied to foodstuffs.

Groups associated with low-technology

• the Arts and Crafts Movement
  Arts and Crafts movement
  Arts and Crafts was an international design philosophy that originated in England and flourished between 1860 and 1910 , continuing its influence until the 1930s...
  
  , popularized by Gustav Stickley
  Gustav Stickley
  Gustav Stickley was a manufacturer of furniture and the leading proselytizer for the American Arts and Crafts movement, an extension of the British Arts and Crafts movement.-Biography:...
  
   in America around 1900.

• the corresponding Bauhaus
  Bauhaus
  ', commonly known simply as Bauhaus, was a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933. At that time the German term stood for "School of Building".The Bauhaus school was founded by...
  
   movement of Germany around the same time.

• the Do-It-Yourself phenomenon arising in America following World War II
  World War II
  World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
  
  .

• the Homesteading Movement beginning in America during the 1960s, whose adherents sought to get Back-to-the-land.

• Survivalists are often proponents, since Low technology is inherently more robust than its high-technology counter-part.

• most pejoratively, the Luddites, whose activities date to the very beginning of the Industrial Revolution
  Industrial Revolution
  The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
  
  .

• the various Living History Museums and Open air museum
  Open air museum
  An open-air museum is a distinct type of museum exhibiting its collections out-of-doors. The first open-air museums were established in Scandinavia towards the end of the nineteenth century, and the concept soon spread throughout Europe and North America. Open-air museums are variously known as...
  
  s around the world, which strive to recreate bygone societies.

• the Amish
  Amish
  The Amish , sometimes referred to as Amish Mennonites, are a group of Christian church fellowships that form a subgroup of the Mennonite churches...
  
   and to a lesser extent some sects of the Mennonites, who specifically refuse some newer technologies to avoid undesireable consequences or effects on their societies.