Heritage Science
Encyclopedia
Heritage science is science for access to cultural heritage
and for its conservation, interpretation
, research and management. The term is relatively novel and has become widely used only after 2006. Heritage science describes all the aspects of research performed by scientists employed in heritage institutions, in universities and research institutions, where scientific research is often necessary not only to support conservation (often called conservation science
), but also access to heritage (e.g. development of new ICT
tools), heritage research and interpretation, including archaeometry (e.g. dating, provenancing
, attribution), heritage management (e.g. development of tools and knowledge supporting strategic decisions) and wider societal engagement with heritage (e.g. heritage values and ethics
).
With this wide definition, heritage science spans an enormous variety of scientific activities. In order to support the various aspects of heritage: conservation, access, research, interpretation and management, heritage science must be based on an interdisciplinary palette of knowledge, from fundamental sciences (chemistry
, physics
, mathematics
, biology
) to arts
and humanities
(conservation, archaeology
, philosophy
, ethics
, history
, art history
etc.), including economics
, sociology
, computer science
s and engineering
.
Heritage science is performed by researchers in heritage institutions and in the academia alike. Many major heritage institutions, e.g. Rijksmuseum
, British Museum
, Louvre
, have their own heritage science departments. In the academia, however, heritage science is often performed across a number of science disciplines, including archaeological science, and by scientists spending only a proportion of their time on heritage issues.
Despite its diffuse character, heritage science is a very lively science domain. Materials and techniques of the past are namely often very difficult to study and state-of-the-art techniques and methods need to be employed. Discoveries new to science are often the result of such endeavours, e.g. new antibiotics from bacteria discovered in the Cave of Altamira, in Spain. The domain is also considerable in size – the number of academic outputs published annually is 3,800 (archaeology: 2,500, chemistry: 22,000. Source: Web of Science).
sub-committee for Science and Technology produced a Science and Heritage report making several key recommendations for the sector, including:
• Development of the term ‘heritage science’ which is explicitly extended beyond conservation science (the development of understanding about decay and its prevention and so forth) to include scientific research as a means to understanding and learning about past human activity (subjects such as dating, ancient technology, bioarchaeology, human skeletal studies etc);
• The creation of a group to produce a National Heritage Science Strategy, to co-ordinate activity across the sector;
• Instigation of a time-limited directed programme of research, to encourage collaborative projects and build capacity in heritage science.
The Strategy steering committee was formed in 2007 and produced three reports (The role of science in the management of the UK’s heritage; Using science to understand the past; Understanding capacity in the heritage science sector). The final strategy document was published in March 2010.
The Arts and Humanities Research Council
(AHRC), along with the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
(EPSRC) set up the Science and Heritage Programme. This programme was budgeted to the tune of £8 Million and given a 5-year timescale. Professor May Cassar, Director of the Centre for Sustainable Heritage at UCL, was appointed Programme Director.
In 2010, Masters degree courses in Heritage Science were formed at University College London
and Queens University Belfast.
Cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, maintained in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations...
and for its conservation, interpretation
Interpretation (aesthetics)
An interpretation in philosophy of art, is an explanation of the meaning of some work of art. An interpretation expresses an understanding of a work of art, a poem, performance, or piece of literature.- One or many :...
, research and management. The term is relatively novel and has become widely used only after 2006. Heritage science describes all the aspects of research performed by scientists employed in heritage institutions, in universities and research institutions, where scientific research is often necessary not only to support conservation (often called conservation science
Conservation science
Conservation science is the interdisciplinary study of cultural heritage conservation through the use of scientific inquiry and analytical equipment...
), but also access to heritage (e.g. development of new ICT
Information and communication technologies
Information and communications technology or information and communication technology, usually abbreviated as ICT, is often used as an extended synonym for information technology , but is usually a more general term that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of...
tools), heritage research and interpretation, including archaeometry (e.g. dating, provenancing
Provenance
Provenance, from the French provenir, "to come from", refers to the chronology of the ownership or location of an historical object. The term was originally mostly used for works of art, but is now used in similar senses in a wide range of fields, including science and computing...
, attribution), heritage management (e.g. development of tools and knowledge supporting strategic decisions) and wider societal engagement with heritage (e.g. heritage values and ethics
Value (ethics)
In ethics, value is a property of objects, including physical objects as well as abstract objects , representing their degree of importance....
).
The heritage science domain
In adopting the term heritage science, heritage science was seen as "key to the long-term sustainability of heritage: it is about managing change and risk and maximising social, cultural and economic benefit not just today, but in such a way that we can pass on to future generations that which we have inherited." Domains of research, where heritage science makes a particular input were recognised to be museums, galleries, libraries and archives; the built historic environment and archaeology, by the United Kingdom National Heritage Science Strategy documents.With this wide definition, heritage science spans an enormous variety of scientific activities. In order to support the various aspects of heritage: conservation, access, research, interpretation and management, heritage science must be based on an interdisciplinary palette of knowledge, from fundamental sciences (chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
, physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
, biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
) to arts
ARts
aRts, which stands for analog Real time synthesizer, is an audio framework that is no longer under development. It is best known for previously being used in KDE to simulate an analog synthesizer....
and humanities
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
(conservation, archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
, philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, ethics
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
, history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, art history
Art history
Art history has historically been understood as the academic study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts, i.e. genre, design, format, and style...
etc.), including economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
, sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
, computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
s and engineering
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
.
Heritage science is performed by researchers in heritage institutions and in the academia alike. Many major heritage institutions, e.g. Rijksmuseum
Rijksmuseum
The Rijksmuseum Amsterdam or simply Rijksmuseum is a Dutch national museum in Amsterdam, located on the Museumplein. The museum is dedicated to arts, crafts, and history. It has a large collection of paintings from the Dutch Golden Age and a substantial collection of Asian art...
, British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
, Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
, have their own heritage science departments. In the academia, however, heritage science is often performed across a number of science disciplines, including archaeological science, and by scientists spending only a proportion of their time on heritage issues.
Despite its diffuse character, heritage science is a very lively science domain. Materials and techniques of the past are namely often very difficult to study and state-of-the-art techniques and methods need to be employed. Discoveries new to science are often the result of such endeavours, e.g. new antibiotics from bacteria discovered in the Cave of Altamira, in Spain. The domain is also considerable in size – the number of academic outputs published annually is 3,800 (archaeology: 2,500, chemistry: 22,000. Source: Web of Science).
Development of ‘Heritage Science’
In 2006, the UK House of LordsHouse of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
sub-committee for Science and Technology produced a Science and Heritage report making several key recommendations for the sector, including:
• Development of the term ‘heritage science’ which is explicitly extended beyond conservation science (the development of understanding about decay and its prevention and so forth) to include scientific research as a means to understanding and learning about past human activity (subjects such as dating, ancient technology, bioarchaeology, human skeletal studies etc);
• The creation of a group to produce a National Heritage Science Strategy, to co-ordinate activity across the sector;
• Instigation of a time-limited directed programme of research, to encourage collaborative projects and build capacity in heritage science.
The Strategy steering committee was formed in 2007 and produced three reports (The role of science in the management of the UK’s heritage; Using science to understand the past; Understanding capacity in the heritage science sector). The final strategy document was published in March 2010.
The Arts and Humanities Research Council
Arts and Humanities Research Council
Established in April 2005 as successor to the Arts and Humanities Research Board, the Arts and Humanities Research Council is a British Research Council and non-departmental public body that provides approximately £102 million from the Government to support research and postgraduate study in the...
(AHRC), along with the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council is a British Research Council that provides government funding for grants to undertake research and postgraduate degrees in engineering and the physical sciences , mainly to universities in the United Kingdom...
(EPSRC) set up the Science and Heritage Programme. This programme was budgeted to the tune of £8 Million and given a 5-year timescale. Professor May Cassar, Director of the Centre for Sustainable Heritage at UCL, was appointed Programme Director.
In 2010, Masters degree courses in Heritage Science were formed at University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
and Queens University Belfast.
Heritage Science Events
The major heritage science events (conferences, symposia, meetings etc.) are:- IUPAC congress, Heritage Science session
- Eastern Analytical Symposium, Conservation Science session
- International Symposium on Archaeometry
- Lasers in the Conservation of Artworks
- Indoor Air Quality in Museums, libraries and Archives
- CMACH
Heritage Science Journals
Journals often or exclusively publishing academic papers in heritage science:- Archaeometry
- Journal of Cultural Heritage
- Studies in Conservation
- Journal of Architectural Conservation
- e-Preservation Science
External links
- Committee for Conservation, Working Group Scientific Research International Council of MuseumsInternational Council of MuseumsThe International Council of Museums is an international organization of museums and museum professionals that is committed to the conservation, continuation and communication to society of the world's natural and cultural heritage, present and future, tangible and intangible.- Overview :Created...
- Centre for Sustainable Heritage, UK University College LondonUniversity College LondonUniversity College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
- Heritage Science Masters at UCL Centre for Sustainable Heritage
- EPSRC/AHRC Science and Heritage Programme, UK
- Getty Conservation Getty Conservation InstituteGetty Conservation InstituteThe Getty Conservation Institute , located in Los Angeles, California, is a program of the J. Paul Getty Trust. It is headquartered at the Getty Center but also has facilities at the Getty Villa, and commenced operation in 1985. The GCI is a private international research institution dedicated to...
, USA - Instituut Collectie Nederland, The Netherlands
- Istituto Superiore per la Conservazione e il Restauro, Rome
- Italian Risk Map of the Cultural Heritage.
- Centre de Recherche sur la Conservation des Collections, France
- Koninklijk Instituut voor het Kunstpatrimonium/Institut Royal du Patrimoine Artistique, Belgium