stonehenge - English Heritage
stonehenge - English Heritage
stonehenge - English Heritage
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015-046 section 1.qxd 6/21/05 4:14 PM Page 3<br />
World <strong>Heritage</strong> Site (WHS number C373). Such designation<br />
is intended not to fossilize the areas to which it applies, but<br />
rather to provide for effective, robust, and sustainable<br />
management. Conserving the outstanding universal value<br />
of a World <strong>Heritage</strong> Site takes place within the context of<br />
maintaining visitor access and experience, retaining a<br />
sustainable working agricultural economy, and supporting<br />
the long-term social, economic, and amenity needs of the<br />
local community. Archaeological research linked to<br />
conservation and management policies is explicitly referred<br />
to in the World <strong>Heritage</strong> Convention (UNESCO 1972, art.5)<br />
and is implicit to the key task of presenting the heritage to<br />
the public. The management guidelines published by<br />
ICOMOS for world cultural heritage sites note that ‘every<br />
World <strong>Heritage</strong> Site contains a wide range of elements<br />
deserving of research, much of which is purely academic’<br />
(Feilden and Jokilehto 1993, 28). It goes on to urge that<br />
research should be planned and programmed.<br />
Locally to the Stonehenge sector of World <strong>Heritage</strong> Site<br />
C373, all these matters are extensively dealt with in the<br />
Stonehenge management plan (<strong>English</strong> <strong>Heritage</strong> 2000).<br />
A complementary management plan also exists for the<br />
Avebury sector (<strong>English</strong> <strong>Heritage</strong> 1998). Both recognize that<br />
archaeological research is an important strand of the<br />
management regime of any World <strong>Heritage</strong> Site. For<br />
Stonehenge the management plan notes that ‘the current<br />
state of our knowledge about the cultural landscape of<br />
Stonehenge as a whole is still incomplete’ (<strong>English</strong> <strong>Heritage</strong><br />
2000, 4.7.1), a theme that is developed in Objective 26 of<br />
the plan which states that:<br />
Research should be encouraged and promoted to<br />
improve understanding of the archaeological, historical<br />
and environmental value of the WHS necessary for its<br />
appropriate management.<br />
It then proposes the development of a research agenda<br />
for the Stonehenge World <strong>Heritage</strong> Site, which, in due<br />
course, will form an appendix to the Management Plan<br />
itself. This document is the first published iteration of such<br />
an agenda, prepared in line with the definition and structure<br />
recommended in Frameworks for our past (Olivier 1996) and<br />
accordingly hereafter referred to as a research framework.<br />
A research agenda for the Avebury area has already been<br />
published (AAHRG 2001), the first such document for a<br />
World <strong>Heritage</strong> Site in the UK.<br />
The overall importance of developing, discussing, and<br />
agreeing an archaeological research programme for<br />
Stonehenge, as anywhere else, is emphasized in the review<br />
document Power of place which notes that (<strong>English</strong> <strong>Heritage</strong><br />
2001, para. 12):<br />
Before we do anything, we need knowledge … We need<br />
targeted, integrated research and regular ‘State of the<br />
historic environment’ reports to identify priorities and<br />
provide the basis for informed decisions.<br />
These sentiments find further expression in the<br />
Government’s response to the Power of place review<br />
which looks to a future in which, amongst other things<br />
(DCMS 2002, 9):<br />
The full potential of the historic environment as a<br />
learning resource is realized … the historic environment’s<br />
importance as an economic asset is skilfully harnessed.<br />
The overarching aim of the Stonehenge Archaeological<br />
Research Framework is therefore to recognize the importance<br />
of research in the World <strong>Heritage</strong> Site and actively to<br />
encourage, within a conservation ethic, well-planned, clearly<br />
focused, and closely targeted research. Such work will lead to<br />
increases in knowledge, enhance understanding of the past,<br />
and both respond to and inform management efforts. It is not<br />
intended to be over-regulatory or highly prescriptive, and it<br />
seeks both to recognize and to embrace a wide range of<br />
approaches to research and the theoretical and philosophical<br />
positions that lie behind them. Through the summary<br />
accounts, position statements, illustrations, and maps it is<br />
hoped that new and innovative research questions will be<br />
identified and acted upon; in this sense the research<br />
framework may act as a practical stimulus to new ways of<br />
looking at and thinking about the data.<br />
Because of the nature and sensitivity of the World <strong>Heritage</strong><br />
Site it is proper that all research carried out there should be<br />
compatible with World <strong>Heritage</strong> Site values. In practical terms<br />
the archaeological research framework is intended to:<br />
• underpin curatorial work in relation to the management<br />
of the archaeological resource in the area, allowing<br />
decisions to be firmly based and fairly judged;<br />
• maximize the return in terms of archaeological<br />
knowledge and insight that arises from routine land<br />
management works, property development, and landuse<br />
change;<br />
• stimulate dynamic and innovative approaches to the study<br />
of archaeological deposits and materials in the area<br />
through problem-orientated and curiosity-driven research<br />
initiatives in order to expand the knowledge-base and<br />
increase public understanding and awareness of the past;<br />
• inform the presentation and interpretation of the World<br />
<strong>Heritage</strong> Site to the public.<br />
Crucial to the attainment of these is the creation of a<br />
long-term sustainable approach to research, meeting<br />
today’s need for improved knowledge and understanding<br />
within the World <strong>Heritage</strong> Site and its hinterland without<br />
jeopardizing the ability of future generations to continue the<br />
tradition of research and investigation.<br />
TOWARDS AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL<br />
RESEARCH FRAMEWORK<br />
Attempts to define research questions and align efforts to<br />
solve recognized problems have been a feature of the<br />
archaeological landscape since the mid-twentieth century,<br />
many of which were published as ‘strategy’ or ‘policy’<br />
documents of various kinds (see Darvill and Fulton 1998,<br />
292–6 for a summary list). Together, these documents provide<br />
a secure basis for the rational and communally endorsed<br />
selection of sites and themes to investigate. They also allow<br />
relatively scarce resources to be deployed effectively.<br />
Wiltshire has been the subject of a number of reviews<br />
leading to the definition of problem-orientated research<br />
strategies since the late 1960s, the most comprehensive<br />
early examples being the series of papers by Derek Roe on<br />
the Palaeolithic (Roe 1969), Jeffrey Radley on the Mesolithic<br />
(Radley 1969), and Stuart Piggott on the Neolithic and<br />
Bronze Age (Piggott 1971). Roughly a decade later the<br />
Wessex Archaeological Committee published A policy for<br />
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