Management of Cultural Heritage: Contribution of Applied Geophysics

Abstract

The book is based on three different concepts: Management and Cultural Heritage, and to then move toward a particular research field, that is Applied Geophysics, and the contribution that it can make. In order to get a successful management, it is necessary to achieve some requirements that include identification, protection, preservation, enhancement, fruition and transmission of Cultural Heritage to future generations. The contribution of geophysical methodologies flows into these requirements through its scope and application. The Cultural Heritage represents the fundamental recognition of the value of a territory as a symbol and an emblem of history and culture, a memory that preserves and records the changing through the time of men and landscapes, a dynamic and evolutionary proof, a sign in space and time of tangible and intangible, material and no-material actions. Cultural Heritage is a wide concept and it has changed through the time, integrating and expanding the typology of heritage included. Having at one time referred exclusively to the monumental remains of cultures, cultural heritage as a concept has gradually come to include new categories. At present, the two largest agencies engaged in the conservation and protection of the world cultural heritage, UNESCO and ICOMOS divide the Cultural Heritage into two large groups: tangible and intangible, inextricably bound up with each other. This heritage is manifested through tangible forms such as artefacts, buildings or landscapes and also through intangible forms including voices, values, traditions, oral history. This book is meant as a tool for capacity-building creation for the best cultural heritage management. The geophysical methodologies, in fact, are applications for the knowledge, conservation and enhancement of a part of the tangible heritage, especially to the archaeological and built heritage. The aim is to improve and implement knowledge, skills and competences in this scientific field and improve its decision-making and management processes through experiences developed in different approaches and in different contexts. Among the objectives set, there is the application of these methodologies in solving management issues, through a multidisciplinary approach in order to have a better knowledge and resolution of these issues.