Abstract
Abstract. A conservation survey of 66 ancient synagogues in the Galilee, served as a pilot for the development of an inventory for heritage management in the Israel Antiquities Authority. The pilot raised some issues concerning the information categories and their informed use for decisions making about the conservation policy for the sites. These issues formed the basis for ongoing research that examined the significance of the information categories and their interrelationship, from the heritage management perspective. The paper presents some of the results and focuses on the classification of the sites to management types. The classification is based on their excavation status with regards to management status and management activities. From this criterion six types emerged: A) Remains known from surveys (Non-excavated); B) Ongoing excavation, and excavated, which are subdivided into four additional groups: C) Remains cleared for modern development (after salvage excavation), D) Non-Stewarded; E) Partially Stewarded; and F) Stewarded. This classification enables to identify common characteristics and sensitivities for which management policy can be formulated, thus providing a solution to the complexity, and dynamism of the sites variables, conditions, and values. While in other fields and organizational frameworks, the types may vary, the criteria for classification, could be applied in broader contexts as well. The study concludes with the need for applied research on the practical use of inventories for informed heritage management.
Highlights
A conservation survey of ancient synagogues in the Galilee found that while some sites were developed for tourism and are managed with considerable resources, other sites are forgotten, abandoned and destroyed
Who is responsible for this situation? How is Israel's archaeological heritage managed? What information is required and how is it used for management? This question, which is at the center of this paper, is of increasing importance to archaeologists and heritage managers alike
Developments in information technologies are changing practices of Archaeological Resource Management (ARM), and inventories which once were no more than archival lists of sites are becoming information systems for heritage management
Summary
A conservation survey of ancient synagogues in the Galilee found that while some sites were developed for tourism and are managed with considerable resources, other sites are forgotten, abandoned and destroyed. Developments in information technologies are changing practices of Archaeological Resource Management (ARM), and inventories which once were no more than archival lists of sites are becoming information systems for heritage management. The subject of inventories is related to the broad issue of ARM that Carman (2015) defines as all the practices of documentation, assessment, conservation, research, and presentation of the remains from the past to the public. In spite of it values, the nonrenewable archaeological resource is exposed to damage from development, looting, inappropriate uses, the destructive nature of the research excavation, along with natural destruction and weathering processes. The question of the practicality of the inventories and the way they are used in the management process remains
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