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The Strategic Value of Archaeological Best Practices
On the 40th Anniversary of the World Heritage Convention
Douglas C. Comer (USA)
Co-President, ICAHM and Principal, Cultural Site Research and Management, Inc.
27 November 2012
Cusco, Peru
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The World Heritage Convention In 1972, UNESCO adopted the
Convention Concerning theProtection of the WorldCultural and Natural Heritage
Consideringthat protection ofthis heritage at the national
level often remainsincomplete,
Recallingthatthe Constitutionof the
Organization provides that itwill maintain, increase, anddiffuse knowledge, by assuringthe conservation andprotection of the world's
heritage
http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php@URL_ID=15244&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.htmlhttp://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php@URL_ID=15244&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.htmlhttp://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php@URL_ID=15244&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.htmlhttp://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php@URL_ID=15244&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html -
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Constitution of the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Adopted London, 16 November 1945
That since wars begin in the minds ofmen, it is in the minds of men that thedefences of peace must be constructed;
That ignorance of each others ways andlives has been a common cause,
throughout the history of mankind, ofthat suspicion and mistrust between thepeoples of the world through whichtheir differences have all too oftenbroken into war;
That the great and terrible war whichhas now ended was a war madepossible by the propagation throughignorance and prejudice, of thedoctrine of the inequality of men andraces;
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UNESCO Constitution ... peace must therefore be
founded, if it is not to fail, uponthe intellectual and moralsolidarity of mankind.
[We] are agreed anddetermined to develop and toincrease the means ofcommunication between theirpeoples and to employ these
means for the purposes ofmutual understanding and atruer and more perfectknowledge of each otherslives;
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The World Heritage Convention Article 5
To ensure that effective and active
measures are taken for theprotection, conservation andpresentation of the cultural andnatural heritage situated on itsterritory, each State Party to this
Convention shall endeavor, in so faras possible, and as appropriate foreach country
Article 8
Established a World HeritageCommittee (21 States Parties
Article 11
Established a World Heritage List and
a List of World Heritage in Danger Timbuktu
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Branding
the World
HeritageList
In the end, what
sets World
Heritage Sites
apart from otherlists of must
see sites?
If we look to the
founding
documents, they
should be models
of effective
resource
management
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Tourism at World Heritage Sites
Success in the industry is measured by numbers of visitors, but who benefits?
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World Peace Through Understanding
or Economic Benefit?
Surely it must be both
Yet, values are difficult toassess:
Who benefits?
The peculiar concerns ofarchaeology
At what cost to resourcesand communities?
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The Missing Statistics:
Phantom Benefits
How many visitors (really)?
Where do visitors come from?
How much do they spend?
Who receives what is spent? International corporations
Women and children
Entrepreneurs
How is tax revenuedistributed?
Site maintenance?
Local communities?
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Material in Context
Archaeologistsanalyze
uncontaminated
material in
context
Residue analysis to
reveal ancient diet
Stratigraphic
integrity
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The City Beneath the City
Brunalleschiexcavated 700years ago todiscover the
architecturalknowledge ofancient Romans
More recently, acat discovered2,000 yearcatacombs
Material in context is important Historic
Urban Settlements and Historic
Monuments in urban areas
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The Cost of Tourism: Abrasion
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The Cost of Tourism: Looting
Archaeological
materials are finite,
non-renewable, and
irreplaceable
Looting will occur in the
absence of protection
Original material can be
analyzed
Repair is not the solution
Authenticity is sacrificed
Attempted theft of
central medallion in
Biclinium 849, 2009
(Courtesy PNT andCourtauld)
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The Cost of Tourism:
Material Degradation
On a 3x4m surface, more than one
half m3 of sandstone eroded from
the inner chamber wall of Al-Khazna,
mostly in from 1980s to 2000s
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Most Important Threat: Environmental
Degradation
Example:
Development of
impervioussurfaces
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The Cost of Tourism: Environmental
Degradation
Flooding
damages
subsurface
archaeologicalsites by
erosion
Water carrieschemicals that
destroy stone
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The Cost of Tourism: Poor Preservation
Treatments
As popularityof a siteincreases, so
do thenumbers ofoffers to helpby means of
poorly fundedand conceivedtreatments.
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Tourism and Preservation ICAHM launches
a series ofpublicationsabout destructive
effects of poorlymanaged tourism
Petra
Machu Picchu
Angkor
Pompeii
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Best Practices The First International Conference on
Best Practices in World Heritage:Archaeology, the Island of Menorca,
Spain, April 2012. Complutense University of
Madrid,
the Council of Menorca Island
held in coordination withICAHM.
This was the largest conference everassembled for the express purpose ofdiscussing archaeological heritage
management.
Outcome:The Menorca
Statement on theDevelopment and Uses ofBest Practices in theManagement ofArchaeological WorldHeritage Sites
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Best Practices
The Menorca Statement
The Menorca Statement is of our intention to developbest practices for the management of archaeologicalmaterials at World Heritage Sites
Nomination dossiers must establish that sites nominatedwill adhere to best practices.
Alternately, nomination dossiers should include adetailed plan that will describe the means by whichcapacity to adhere to best practices will be developed.
This provides an opportunity for the nominatingcountry to access many sources that can helpbuild management capacity
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Core Best Practices Committee
Core Member Establish Advisory Groups for*
Chris Young Northern Europe
Tim Williams Silk Route Countries
Ian Lilley Southeast Asia
Willem J.H. Willems* Central and Eastern Europe, Russia
Douglas C. Comer* North and Central America
Liu Guo Xiang: China
Akira Ono Japan
Charles Musiba Sub-Saharan Africa
Alicia Castillo Southern Europe and South America
Assaad Seif Middle East
John Peterson Indo-pacific (especially islands)
* Chairs * including regional professional societies
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Invited Scientific Committees
ICOMOS Scientific Committees Representative
International Committee on Risk Preparedness (ICORP) Rohit Jigyasu
International Cultural Tourism Committee (ICTC) Sue Millar
International Committee on Underwater Cultural Heritage (ICUCH) Thjis Maarleveld
International Committee on Interpretation and Presentation of Cultural
Heritage Sites (ICIP) Niel Silberman
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Time Table
Task Date
Core Committee members identify participating individuals
and organizations for their regions
March 1, 2013
Draft list of topics circulated for review May 1, 2013
Reviews returned June 1, 2013
Topics assigned to individuals and work groups July 1, 2013
The Next 40 Years:
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The Next 40 Years:
The World as Las Vegas?We are at a crossroad
A World Heritage List of tourismattractions
OR
A model for effective archaeological
heritage management
World Heritage Sites sacrificed to
global development
OR
Building capacity to preserve the
common heritage of humanity
Moving toward the goals of
international understanding and
respect for diverse cultures
OR
Destroying and homogenizing
cultural heritage until it is a parody ofitself