Scope of archaeological preservation

Giorgio Buccellati – April 2011

Statics and dynamics: the things and their fruition

We may consider a narrow meaning for the otherwise potentially generic term “preservation.” I take it to include three different aspects that define its scope. They can roughly be identified with conservation, storage and presentation. Here I will describe briefly, and from a theoretical point of view, each of these aspects.

Statically, what is found in the ground needs to be considered as a “thing” to be protected in its tangible reality. But there is as well a dynamic dimension: rather than a musealization that re-transforms these “things” into fossils, we want to embed them in a new order, that of our understanding. Philosophically, this is a question of hermeneutics. We face it in a very concrete manner in the field.

Consolidation of the initial state

The initial state in which something comes to be found is of paramount importance. A wall or an object retain their typological identity independently of the contact associations that define their context. Nor can we preserve these contact associations, except perhaps in an indirect way through cuts in the matrix, which we can preserve as sections. But primarily it is the things that have a typological identity that ask for protection from being damaged, all the more so the more fragile they are.

The initial state is the condition in which the “thing,” whether a wall or an object, is first extricated from its matrix, with whatever damage may have ensued. The first task of conservation is to protect this initial state, consolidating it where necessary, but without altering its natural consistency.

Expansion of the initial state

This initial state may be expanded, in the sense that broken portions may be mended, missing components may be added, all the way up to where a no longer existent item is re-created. This is what is meant by restoration and reconstruction. These interventions should not obscure the original document, where extant, but rather enhance it. Clearly, any such expansion is by necessity interpretive, and it is especially useful in a heuristic function, as it suggest what the original would have looked like. In this respect, the expansion leads into the dynamic aspect of fruition and interaction.

Safekeeping

Once consolidated, and possibly restored, the elements in question must be protected against further deterioration. For items of museographic value, the local museum takes on the responsibility of curation after we have turned then over in as a stable a condition as possible. For the other items, it is a question of storage, something to which I have given much attention at Mozan: proper storage of such items may become a problem especially given the very large quantities that are generated in the excavations.

For stationary elements (such as walls, floor, or sections), safekeeping is a much more complex question, and to this I devote a complete digital monograph in this website.

Interaction

Ultimately, preservation is for sharing. It is, in other words, a specific type of publication, one that conveys the full impact of the original, without the translation into an analogical medium. For this reason, it is intimately tied with site presentation, to which I devote a digital monograph under the heading of EDUCATION.