Development Trend in Non-Destructive Techniques for Cultural Heritage: From Material Characterization to AI-Driven Diagnosis

I. INTRODUCTION II. CULTURAL & NATURAL HERITAGE: AN OVERVIEW A. Cultural Heritage B. Natural Heritages C. Nature Conservation Strategies Worldwide D. The Links Between Cultural and Natural Heritage E. Characteristics of Sites of Overlapping Cultural & Natural Heritage III. The Present and Future of Integrated Cultural & Natural Heritage Management A. Challenges Posed to Protecting Cultural and Natural Heritage B. Existing Legal/Regulatory Efforts to Protect Cultural and Natural Heritage 1. Developed Countries a. The United States b. The European Union (1) England (a) National Parks (b) Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (c) Conservation Areas (2) Dartmoor National Park (a) The Dartmoor Local Plan (b) Local Plan Aims (c) Local Plan Landscapes c. Canada 2. Developing Countries a. China b. Brazil IV. CONCLUSION A. Why Integrate Cultural and Natural Heritage Protection? B. Bridging Boundaries for Mutual Gain I. INTRODUCTION Formal legal efforts to protect cultural and natural heritage are not a modern phenomenon. In the developed and developing worlds, regional, state, and local governments undertake efforts to protect their cultural heritage and their natural resources. Most cultural and natural resource protection regimes, however, have evolved independently of one another. This is only recently beginning to change. As scholars, regulators, and activists increasingly recognize the links and overlap between areas of cultural and natural heritage, they are beginning to come together to develop new regimes for joint cultural and environmental protection. These early efforts jointly to protect cultural and natural heritage vary significantly in character and success. These variations reflect a still vague and evolving understanding of the interplay between culture and nature, the relationship between public and private land ownership, and significant regional differences in existing legal regimes, economic development, and environmental agendas. Further, there is currently very little comprehensive research examining global efforts to develop heritage protection areas that integrate both cultural and natural resource conservation. There is even less research analyzing how relationships between land ownership and social conceptions of culture and nature impact the development of future cultural and natural heritage programs. The goal of this paper is to contribute to and encourage the development of innovative, interdisciplinary approaches for the protection, preservation, and enhancement of natural and cultural heritage areas. The second section of this paper examines traditional notions and regulatory regimes for cultural and natural heritage protection, and delves into the links between cultural and natural heritage. Section three analyzes existing cultural heritage and environmental/natural protection laws, and provides examples of joint cultural and natural heritage preservation efforts. In particular, section three considers how current and prospective joint cultural and natural heritage protection efforts in developed and developing countries contribute to the social and economic development of communities and regions, and advance the principles of sustainable development by strengthening the historical continuity of a place and its people, and by guiding development in ways consistent with the characteristics of these cultural and natural resources. Additionally, section three examines case studies in the United States, Europe, Canada, Brazil, and China to demonstrate the challenges and critical elements integral to developing innovative and sustainable cultural and natural heritage preservation schemes. …

<p>Cultural heritage is a relevant issue in contemporary society. While its preservation is a challenge, its dissemination, can contribute for an economic balance between costs and benefits. Scientific heritage can be considered as a special domain of cultural heritage, not yet sought by the mass tourism, but worth being preserved as the roots of today’s knowledge. Considering that university students of engineering and computer science traditionally do not address cultural or scientific heritage issues in their syllabus, and that they constitute a layer of young citizens that will come to be influential in the future of society, an effort was undertaken to focus on this theme in disciplines of different courses, allying the learning of technical skills with the natural interest of younger people for 3D and animation for the profit of heritage. The goal was to raise the awareness of this particular group to the importance of maintaining heritage issues, in particular, in a virtual way, both for documentation and for divulgating their existence. Raising funds for buildings’ restoration, attracting the public to visit buildings and collections that are outside the usual tourism routes, contributing to revenue generation, or allowing virtual visits of not accessible issues, complementing physical visits on site, were the general aims of the proposed projects. A survey was undertaken under the participating students to evaluate how the projects influenced their attitude towards heritage. The obtained feedback was very positive: 76% agreed that the project alerted them for the importance of preserving historical and cultural heritage, while 72% considered it was interesting that the topic of digital cultural heritage was used for the assessments of the disciplines.</p>

The entire world’s cultural and educational resources are being more and more produced, distributed and accessed in digital form, rather than on paper. Born-digital heritage available on-line, including electronic journals, World Wide Web pages or on-line databases, are now an integral part of the world’s cultural heritage. Consequently preservation of cultural and scientific heritage has undergone substantial changes and has come across new challenges. Traditional methods for preservation have been backed by technological tools of enormous capacities, creating the impression of a constant “revolution”. Most importantly, preservation has shifted from a passive stance (storage) to more active attitude (digitization, migration). However, the transition from the analogue past to the digital future is not smooth, as one would hope (or at least as libraries and their users would have hoped). The digital collection and preservation of on-line cultural and scientific assets was faced with legal instruments pertaining to “analogue age”, such as the legal deposit and the traditional rules of copyright law, which in the digital age seem as inadequate tools for the effective preservation of cultural and scientific heritage and the securing of a wide access to that heritage. Recent and pending changes in the areas of legal deposit and Copyright law attempt to modernize the legislation, but as it is demonstrated, a lot more has to be done in that direction. This chapter presents an overview of the present situation, challenges and problems with a focus on European Community and International Law.

The entire world‘s cultural and educational resources are being more and more produced, distributed and accessed in digital form, rather than on paper. Born-digital heritage available on-line, including electronic journals, World Wide Web pages or on-line databases, are now an integral part of the world‘s cultural heritage. Consequently preservation of cultural and scientific heritage has undergone substantial changes and has come across new challenges. Traditional methods for preservation have been backed by technological tools of enormous capacities, creating the impression of a constant “revolution”. Most importantly, preservation has shifted from a passive stance (storage) to more active attitude (digitization, migration). However, the transition from the analogue past to the digital future is not smooth, as one would hope (or at least as libraries and their users would have hoped). The digital collection and preservation of on-line cultural and scientific assets was faced with legal instruments pertaining to “analogue age”, such as the legal deposit and the traditional rules of copyright law, which in the digital age seem as inadequate tools for the effective preservation of cultural and scientific heritage and the securing of a wide access to that heritage. Recent and pending changes in the areas of legal deposit and Copyright law attempt to modernize the legislation, but as it is demonstrated, a lot more has to be done in that direction. This chapter presents an overview of the present situation, challenges and problems with a focus on European Community and International Law.

The relevance of FT-IR spectroscopy in heritage science has experienced a constant grow in the last two decades owing to analytical peculiarities that make it an extremely useful tool to answer the questions posed by the study and conservation of art-historical and archaeological materials. High versatility, sensitivity and molecular specificity are, in fact, all requirements that FT-IR spectroscopy fulfils allowing for the investigation of the chemical properties of heritage materials spanning from the micro- to the macro-scale and offering a variety of approaches to minimize sample manipulation and maximize extracted information. Molecular identification and localisation at high lateral resolution of organic and inorganic components in micro-samples was, over recently, the mostly exploited use of FT-IR in heritage science; however, benefiting from technological progress and advances in optical materials and components achieved in the last decade, it now stands out also for non-invasive surface analysis of artworks by fully portable instrumentation.

PurposeThe peoples living in the Balkan Peninsula over centuries have created a very rich cultural heritage and the constant political upheavals in the region have affected the development and preservation of their cultures. This paper aims to review the internet infrastructure and networked readiness levels of the Balkan countries, which are conducive to scientific co‐operation and preservation of digitised cultural heritage. It also explores the destructive effects of wars on the cultural riches of the region.Design/methodology/approachThe internet facilities and the scientific production of the Balkan countries were identified using published sources and Thomson's Web of Science database. A game‐theoretic approach was used to expound the consequences of wars and the adverse effects of the nation‐building process on cultural heritage artefacts.FindingsBalkan countries lack sound internet infrastructures, hindering their contributions to the world of science and stifling scientific co‐operation among themselves in terms of joint papers. The co‐ordinated efforts have yet to exist to streamline the digital preservation of the unique cultural heritage of the Balkan countries.Originality/valueThis paper discusses the impact of the nation‐building process on cultural and scientific heritage artefacts using the concepts of the “game theory”. It reinforces the fact that destroying the cultural heritage artefacts during wars is not a “zero‐sum game” in which the dominant culture wins and the “other” culture loses. It is not even a “lose‐lose game” in which both parties lose. Rather, humanity loses part of its whole cultural heritage forever.

Material science is an interdisciplinary field that draws on elements of chemistry, physics, engineering and deals with designing, producing, and using a wide range of materials. The methodological approach of materials investigation is very significant in cultural heritage.The study of Cultural Heritage materials is useful for dating, unraveling production technologies, sources and trading, and their restoration and preservation.Archaeometry is the tool for material characterization, but it cannot always be applied in a non-destructive way: as a result, analytical techniques requiring minimum sampling are of great interest. For this, Total reflection X-ray fluorescence (TXRF) spectrometry is an effective technique, thanks to its microanalytical capabilities and the possibility of preserving the sample after its analysis, either for additional investigations or archiving purposes. It is very sensitive to period four transition elements but less effective with lighter ones. Thus, to gather the most comprehensive analysis of historic enamelled ceramics, Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) and TXRF spectrometry were combined in a novel analytical approach.Soil standards and natural soil pigment samples were tested to validate the novel analytical approach. Na, Mg, Al, Si, K and Ca were determined with SEM-EDS analysis and used for TXRF quantification of heavier elements without adding any internal standard. The methodology to determine the total composition of artifacts, by integrating the concentrations of light elements in EDS with the data of the heavier elements obtained with TXRF, is here developed expressing elements as oxides recalculated to 100%. Recovery values for standards were found mostly within 20% of the certified values for MgO, Al2O3, SiO2, K2O, TiO2, Cr2O3, MnO, Fe2O3, NiO, CuO, PbO and SrO. The detection capabilities for major, minor and trace elements in soil pigments prove that this novel, practically non-destructive, analytical approach has a high potential for obtaining the elemental composition of Cultural Heritage materials with broad applications.

In the National University of Colombia there are currently 25 museums and collections including art, medicine, natural science, anthropology and history. Taken together, they comprise the largest, most diverse and most important museum in Colombia, and also the least known. The collections are the product of the conservation and research work of the university in the 141 years of its existence. In recent years, the National University of Colombia has not only become more aware of the importance of its cultural and scientific heritage, but also of the marginality of the work in the university museums. For that reason, in 2006 the university began to work on a Museums and Cultural Heritage Project to develop policies for the conservation, acquisition, documentation, research and communication of its own cultural heritage. The National University of Colombia hopes, through the development of a stronger, structured, ethical, responsible, efficient and representative project about Museums and Cultural Heritage to be better prepared for current challenges. In addition, the project hopes to generate a new landscape of accessibility to the museums and collections of the National University of Colombia. In short, the Museums and Cultural Heritage System of the National University of Colombia, through a ‘Museums portal’ located in a colonial building in Bogota known as Claustro de San Agustin (Cloister of St. Augustine) seeks to highlight the cultural heritage of the university, and become, beyond the classrooms and research centers of the campus, an important reference for the meeting of teachers, students, citizens and other cultural and academic institutions. Open door policy Colombia National University has 25 museums and collections, which together give the university the largest and most diverse collections in Columbia. The collections of science, art, medicine, natural science, and anthropology are the result of the research and collecting of the university during its 141 year history. The goal of the Cultural Patrimonio and Museums System (PMS) is to provide more public access to the cultural heritage of the university so that the university becomes meeting place; a place where teachers, students, academic and cultural institutions, social actors, and citizens can come together. In October 2007 the San Agustin Cloister opened its doors as the headquarters of the PMS of the National University. At that time we had 3 to 5 visitors daily and in December 2008, the average was 125 people daily. To date, we have had a total of 27,400 visitors. Yet even more important information can be obtained by looking beyond the numbers. The essential question is: Why is it so important open the doors of university to the citizens? The answer is as simple as it is political: because the audience has to have access in order to contribute to the preservation of National University heritage. Beyond the campus: The other visitors of the university museums The museums that are located on the campus of the university are known to the community because of the importance of the campus, but access to the museums was limited in the past because the activities of the museums were primarily linked to the university’s curriculum. The cloister is located strategically in downtown Bogota, in the main cultural zone. It is able to distribute information about the university museums, resulting in visits from people who work in the

Functional nano-hydroxyapatite for applications in conservation of stony monuments of cultural heritage

SummaryOur cultural heritage is a common asset that tells the story of our shared past, is part of our origin and identity and has wide social relevance. Our works of art and our heritage must be enjoyed, appreciated and preserved for future generations. To this end, a wide and varied group of professionals, including conservators, restorers, curators, bibliographers, historians, archivists, but also scientists, such as biologists, chemists, physicists and bioinformaticians, work side by side to preserve our cultural heritage. Working together in this wide range of disciplines included in the so‐called ‘heritage sciences’ is the only plausible way to contribute to the sustainable preservation of our heritage. The great progress made in recent years in conservation and restoration work, but also in the natural sciences considered within heritage science, has provided powerful tools and strategies for analytical and experimental research into historical and cultural objects that open up new frontiers for their diagnosis, monitoring and protection. Here we highlight some of the advances and challenges faced by the natural sciences at the service of art.

The 14th EUROGRAPHICS Workshop on Graphics and Cultural Heritage (GCH 2016) aims to foster an international dialogue between ICT experts and CH scientists to have a better understanding of the critical requirements for processing, managing, and delivering cultural information to a broader audience. The objective of the workshop is to present and showcase new developments within the overall process chain, from data acquisition, analysis and synthesis, 3D documentation, and data management, to new forms of interactive presentations and 3D printing solutions. Interdisciplinary approaches for analysis, classification and interpretation of cultural artefacts are particularly relevant to the event. The intention of GCH 2016 is also to establish a scientific forum for scientists and CH professionals to exchange and disseminate novel ideas and techniques in research, education and dissemination of Cultural Heritage, transfer them in practice, and trace future research and technological directions. Therefore, we seek original, innovative and previously unpublished contributions in the computer graphics area applied to digital cultural heritage, challenging the state of the art solutions and leveraging new ideas for future developments. Specific sessions will be devoted to reports on applications, experiences and projects in this domain. Contributions are solicited (but not limited to) in the following areas: - 2/3/4D data acquisition and processing in Cultural Heritage - Multispectral imaging and data fusion - Digital acquisition, representation and communication of intangible heritage - Material acquisition analysis - Heterogeneous data collection, integration and management - 3D printing of cultural assets - Shape analysis and interpretation - Similarity and search of digital artefacts - Visualization and Virtual Museums - Multi-modal and interactive environments and applications for Cultural Heritage - Spatial and mobile augmentation of physical collections with digital presentations - Semantic-aware representation of digital artefacts (metadata, classification schemes, annotation) - Digital libraries and archiving of 3D documents - Standards and documentation - Serious games in Cultural Heritage - Storytelling and design of heritage communications - Tools for education and training in Cultural Heritage - Experiences and projects in Computer Graphics and CH documentation, conservation and dissemination

This paper discusses the importance of linked data for the semantics of cultural and scientific heritage and it provides some reasons on using JSON- LD as a standard. From a conceptual point of view, cultural and scientific heritage should widen for broad human and computer access. Web semantics support the transformation of information to knowledge on a large and open scale and cultural and scientific heritage should benefit from that, especially if we see the latter as a pillar in a lean system, such as E-Democracy that seeks for permanent improvement. Cultural and scientific heritage has a primary role in education of individuals but also in the optimization process of knowledge society through the humane collective approach of trial and error. In order to build a society of inclusion using vertical (temporal) and horizontal (spatial) inquiries in social values, religions, beliefs and rituals we must facilitate broaden and less restrictive access. One way to achieve this task is by using linked data for connectivity and meaning of information and the standard of JSON-LD for extensive and simple digital access.

A data fusion model merging information from near infrared spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence. Searching for atomic-molecular correlations to predict and characterize the composition of coffee blends

Analytical techniques play a fundamental role in heritage science. Among them, Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) and X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) techniques are widely used in many laboratories for elemental composition analysis. Although they are well-established, a strong effort is put on their upgrade, making them suitable for more and more applications. Over the years, at the INFN-LABEC (the laboratory of nuclear techniques for the environment and cultural heritage of the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics), the INFN-CHNet group, the network devoted to cultural heritage, has carried out many technological improvements to the PIXE and XRF set-ups for the analysis of works of art and archaeological finds. Among the many, we recall here the scanning external microbeam facility at the TANDEM accelerator and the MA-XRF scanner. The two instruments have shown complementary features: the former permits quantitative analysis of elements heavier than sodium, which is not possible with the latter in most of the case studies. On the contrary, the scanner has the undeniable advantage of portability, allowing it to work in situ. In this framework of technological developments in heritage science, INFN, CERN, and OPD are jointly carrying on the MACHINA (Movable Accelerator for Cultural Heritage In-situ Non-destructive Analysis) project for on-site Ion Beam Analysis (IBA) studies on cultural heritage.

The System and Metasystem Approach are applied to the Problem of Conservation Ethics. The cultural and historical heritage is affected by detrimental and spillover impacts which originate in business and industrial systems, as well as by decisions taken by public and private enterprises. These entities will have to be included in the Conservation System if we are to harbor any hope of reversing current trends of damage and of deterioration to natural and cultural heritages. The Conservation Ethic must encompass not only the cultural/historical heritage but also the natural/biological heritage. The latter involves the conservation of natural resources, energy, and, in general, the preservation of all environments on the planet Earth. Unless Conservation becomes an issue which pervades decision making of natural/biological, as well as cultural/historical resources, no progress will be made in efforts to modify the current Ethos which guides this planet's decision-making forces. As a start toward meeting this objective, the value concepts which underlie the Conservation Ethic must be enlarged and operationalized. It is argued that the level of abstraction of the concepts of historical and cultural heritage must be lowered in order to operationalize them. They must be translated into concepts which can be used to calculate how much Conservation is worth and how much it costs to organizations. Decision makers understand ‘economic language’ better than ‘moral language’.