Tourism and Archaeological Heritage Management at Petra: Driver to Development Or Destruction?

187 Pages·2012·2.92 MB·English

by  Douglas C. Comer (auth.)

SpringerBriefs in Archaeology
Archaeological Heritage Management
For furthervolumes:
http://www.springer.com/series/10187

Douglas C. Comer
Tourism and Archaeological
Heritage Management at
Petra
Driver to Development or Destruction?
123
Dr. DouglasC. Comer
International CommitteeonArchaeological
Heritage Management (ICAHM)
2113St.PaulStreet
Baltimore
MD21218
USA
e-mail: [email protected]
ISSN 1861-6623 e-ISSN 2192-4910
ISBN 978-1-4614-1480-3 e-ISBN978-1-4614-1481-0
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-1481-0
SpringerNewYorkDordrechtHeidelbergLondon
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2011940846
(cid:2)TheAuthor(s)2012
Allrightsreserved.Thisworkmaynotbetranslatedorcopiedinwholeorinpartwithoutthewritten
permissionofthepublisher(SpringerScience+BusinessMedia,LLC,233SpringStreet,NewYork,NY
10013, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in
connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer
software,orbysimilarordissimilarmethodologynowknownorhereafterdevelopedisforbidden.
Theuseinthispublicationoftradenames,trademarks,servicemarks,andsimilarterms,eveniftheyare
notidentifiedassuch,isnottobetakenasanexpressionofopinionastowhetherornottheyaresubject
toproprietaryrights.
Printedonacid-freepaper
SpringerispartofSpringerScience+BusinessMedia(www.springer.com)
This volume is dedicated to the memory of
Dr. Fawwaz Al-Khraysheh, Director-
General of Antiquities of Jordan from 1999
to 2010, who worked tirelessely for the
preservation of the archaeological heritage
in Jordan, the region, and internationally.

Series Foreword
When I was elected a member of the Executive Committee in 1981 my candi-
dature, which was strongly backed by the UK National Committee, was based on
whatIperceivedtobetheneglectofthearchaeologicalheritagebyICOMOS.This
struck a chord within the many archaeologist members, and a vigorous campaign
ledtotheeventualcreationofICAHMattheGeneralAssemblyinWashingtonDC
in 1984, though not without opposition on the part of some senior ICOMOS
members.
ThenewScientificCommitteesetitselftwotasksintheitsfirstthreeyears:the
creation of a world database of archaeological heritage protection and manage-
ment institutions and the drafting of an ICOMOS charter for the protection and
management of the archaeological heritage.
ICAHM began seriously promoting its objectives to the wider archaeological
communityaswellastotheICOMOSNationalCommitteesin1986,whenthefirst
President, Margareta Biörnstad, Head of the Swedish National Heritage Board
(Riksantivarieämbetet)gaveapapertotheFirstWorldArchaeologicalConference
in Southampton [1]. The first presentation of the ICAHM Charter to a wider
specialist audience was at a conference in Stockholm (Lund 1989). The response
oftheaudiencesatbotheventswasenthusiastic,andtheCharterfortheProtection
and Management of the Archaeological Heritage was finally approved by the 9th
ICOMOS General Assembly in Lausanne in 1990.
ThemainthemeoftheStockholmconference[2]wasaverytopicaloneatthat
time,‘‘ArchaeologyandSociety:Large-scalerescueoperations—theirpossibilities
and problems.’’ The 1994 ICAHM Conference in Canada [3] similarly addressed
an issue of global concern for archaeologists and heritage managers, ‘‘Archaeo-
logical Remains: In situ Preservation). There has been something of a hiatus in
ICAHMconferenceorganization andpublicationsincethattime,andsothelatest
initiative of publishing a series of ICAHM Briefs is highly commendable.
Once again, ICAHM has identified a theme that is of intense concern to
archaeologists, scientists, historians, architects, and site managers all round the
world.Thearchaeologicalheritagehasinrecentdecadesbecomeamajorthemeof
tourism, and at the same time a source of revenue for both public and private
vii
viii SeriesForeword
owners.Theimpactofrapidlygrowingtouristnumbersonarchaeologicalsitesand
monuments of all kinds, many of which are fragile and vulnerable, is often
shockinglyvisible.Notonlyisitphysicaldamagethatisinflictedonthisheritage:
whilst local communities may benefit economically, they are at the same time
rendered vulnerable to the many forms of political and economic change that our
present societies are increasingly being exposed to.
Overthepasthalf-centuryIhavebeenfortunateenoughtovisitarchaeological
sites and monuments all round the world in several capacities—as student, tour
guide, management consultant, and ICOMOS expert evaluator of properties
nominated for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List. It has been
instructive, for example (and not infrequently depressing), to observe how the
conditionofcertainmonumentshasdeterioratedover,andmoreespeciallybefore
and after World Heritage Listing. I know two of the four World Heritage monu-
ments selected by ICAHM for this news series in this way.
MyfirstvisittoPetrawasin1947whenIwentfromGaza,wheremyregiment
was stationed, in a Jeep with a fellow-officer to look at the ‘‘rose-red city half as
old as time.’’ When I see David Roberts engravings or paintings from the mid-
nineteenthcenturyIamtakenbackinstantlytowhatIsawthen,aromanticscene
ofruinsandBedouinsthatseemedtobeexistinghappilyside-by-sidewithoutany
impact on one another. Nowadays the Bedu have been banished, along with their
livestock, and the site is populated only by tourists and tour guides, who are
unwittingly causing greater damage to the remains than their predecessors.
It was again thanks to the British army that I paid my first visit to Pompeii. I
wentwithaconvoyoftrucksdownfromVeneziaGiulia,wheremyregimentwas
stationed, to purchase wine, cheese, and other goodies before we left for the
rigoursofPalestine,andacoupleofustooktheopportunitytoexplorePompeiifor
an afternoon. It cannot be denied that it was then in a sorry state, and I saw little
improvement in the decades that followed. Despite the efforts of Pier Giovanni
Guzzo and his colleagues over the past decade or so, the experience is still a
depressing one: a combination of ill-managed visits to some ‘‘honeypot’’ features
and local corruption siphoning off much of the enormous revenue from entrance
fees.
These are high-profile examples of the way in which tourist development is
degrading the archaeological heritage. I have witnessed countless other examples
on less famous, though equally significant, sites and monuments elsewhere in the
world.OnmymostrecentvisittotheAcropolisinAthensIwasappalledtoseethe
crowdsoftouristsswarmingoverthesite:attimesIwasremindedmoreoffootball
crowds at Stamford Bridge to watch Chelsea take on Manchester United. The
atmosphere was oppressive and the impact of so many feet on the steps and
terraces was plainly visible. The millions of visitors to the stretch of the Great
Wall at Badaling, near Beijing, cause physical damage that requires continuous
conservation and reconstruction, a situation that is duplicated in Agra at the Taj
Mahal.
The time is overdue for an intensive and objective review of the relationship
between the protection and interpretation of the heritage on the one hand and
SeriesForeword ix
latter-day exploitation for profit, since the significance and preservation of this
heritageareseriouslythreatened.ICAHMhasavitalroletoplayinthisreviewand
in the development of policies and procedures that will benefit both the past and
the present.
Henry Cleere
Member of the ICOMOS Executive Committee from 1981 to 1990
First Vice-President of ICAHM
ICOMOS World Heritage Coordinator from 1992 to 2002
References
1. BiörnstadM(1989)TheICOMOSinternationalcommitteeonarchaeologicalheritageman-
agement(ICAHM).In:CleereHF(ed)Archaeologicalheritagemanagementinthemodern
World.UnwinHyman,London,pp70–75
2. Trotzig G, Vahlne G (eds) (1989) Archaeology and Society: large scale rescue operations
theirpossibilitiesandproblems(ICAHMReportNo.1).TheNordicSecretariatofICAHM,
Stockholm
3. Mousseau C (ed) (1996) Vestiges archéologiques: La conservation in situ/Archaeological
Remains:InSituPreservation.ICAHMPublication,Ottawa
AuthorBiography HenryCleereswitchedhiscareertoarchaeologyafterworkinginthesteel
industry for nearly twenty years, eventually obtaining his PhD in 1980 at the Institute of
ArchaeologyofUniversityCollegeLondon(wherehehasbeenHonoraryProfessorofArchae-
ological Heritage Management since 1998). He was Director of the Council for British
Archaeologyfrom1974to1991,followedby11years(1992to2002)inParisasWorldHeritage
CoordinatorfortheInternationalCouncilonMonumentsandSites(ICOMOS).Sincethattimehe
has been a consultant on the management aspects of World Heritage and other urban and
archaeological sites in a number of countries, including Bahrain, China, Ireland, Israel, Japan,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Oman, Tunisia, and Ukraine. He has edited two major works on
heritage management: Approaches to the Archaeological Heritage (Cambridge, 1984) and
ArchaeologicalHeritageManagementintheModernWorld(London,1989).Afoundermember
and first Secretary General of the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA), he was the
recipientofitsEuropeanHeritageAwardin2002.In2010hereceivedtheannualConservation
and Management Award of the Archaeological Institute of America. He is currently a Senior
AdvisortotheUS-basedGlobalHeritageFund.