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Site Preservation

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Encyclopedia of Geoarchaeology

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

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Definition

In situ preservation of archaeological heritage means the preservation of sites and remains in their original location within the burial environment, with the purpose of leaving archaeological sites intact, authentic, and as undamaged as possible. This is contrary to archaeological excavation, which can be seen as preservation ex situ.

Introduction

Subsumed within the idea of cultural heritage are structures, constructions, groups of buildings, developed sites, moveable objects, monuments of other kinds, as well as the context of all the aforementioned, whether situated on land or under water. This proposition was stated in the European Valletta Convention of 1992 (or the revised European Convention on the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage) as well as in the World Heritage Convention of UNESCO, which also includes natural heritage. For many years, there has been an awareness of the importance of preserving ancient monumental buildings; however, most of our...

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Bibliography

  • de Beer, H., Christensson, A., and Jensen, J. A., 2008, Bryggen world heritage site: a numerical groundwater model to support archaeological preservation strategies, In Kars, H., and van Heeringen, R. M. (eds.), Preserving Archaeological Remains In Situ: Proceedings of the 3rd Conference 7–9 December 2006, Amsterdam. Geoarchaeological and Bioarchaeological Studies 10. Amsterdam: Institute for Geo and Bioarchaeology, VU University, pp. 95–100.

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Correspondence to Henk Kars .

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Kars, H. (2017). Site Preservation. In: Gilbert, A.S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geoarchaeology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4409-0_54

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