Heritage science
Heritage science is the interdisciplinary domain of scientific study of heritage. Heritage science draws on diverse humanities, sciences and engineering disciplines. It focuses on enhancing the understanding, care and sustainable use of heritage so it can enrich people's lives, both today and in the future. Heritage science is an umbrella term encompassing all forms of scientific enquiry into human works and the combined works of nature and humans, of value to people.
The term has become widely used after 2006 when it became increasingly evident that the more traditional terms conservation science or preservation science inadequately reflected the breadth of research into cultural heritage. Heritage scientists in museums, galleries, libraries, archives, universities and research institutions support conservation, access, interpretation, including archaeometry and archaeological science, heritage management and wider societal engagement with heritage. Heritage science is also an excellent vehicle for public engagement with science as well as heritage.
Heritage science is seen as "key to the long-term sustainability of heritage: it is about managing change and risk and maximising social, cultural and economic benefit not just today, but in such a way that we can pass on to future generations that which we have inherited." Domains of research, where heritage science makes a particular input were recognised to be museums, galleries, libraries and archives; the built historic environment and archaeology, by the United Kingdom National Heritage Science Strategy documents.
Theory
The field still requires its literature canon and opinions on whether heritage science is a domain in its own right or a field of research diverge. However, this appears a matter of academic recognition, rather than a matter of research practice.Heritage science is an old field of research: in his Royal Institution Christmas Lecture in 1843, Michael Faraday already pointed out how pollution importantly contributes to book degradation. The following premises appear to be of defining importance:
- Heritage science is inherently biased, as scientists, by doing research on heritage, contribute to its value: they create and popularize heritage through their research.
- Heritage science is neither fundamental nor experimental: work with actual heritage objects, building or sites cannot be repeatable because heritage is not an experiment. On the other hand, the scientific method and deductive reasoning is easily applied when working with models and model objects, which heritage scientists often do due to the high value of actual historic objects and consequentially, sampling restrictions.
Heritage that is accessible, in its preserved authentic form or as a reproduction, is a "resource for economic growth, employment and social cohesion". Through improved access, heritage science therefore contributes to well-being. Heritage science is proof that there is no world of 'Two Cultures'. A scientist, researching heritage defies the existence of the divide: there can be no scientific research of heritage without a contribution by humanities research. Heritage science also successfully bridges science and culture, because it provides an attractive vehicle to convey ideas and concepts related to technology and engineering, as well as culture and society. Heritage science can be considered an anthropogenic analog to environmental geography, which was defined by Halford Mackinder in 1887 as a discipline that aims to "bridge one of the greatest of all gaps" between "the natural sciences and the study of humanity".
Research
Heritage science is an increasingly lively science domain. Materials and techniques of the past are often very difficult to study and state-of-the-art techniques and methods need to be employed. Discoveries new to science are often the result of such endeavours, e.g. new antibiotics from bacteria discovered in the Cave of Altamira, in Spain. With its wide definition, heritage science spans a significant variety of scientific activities. In order to support conservation, access, interpretation and management, heritage science must be based on an interdisciplinary palette of knowledge, from fundamental sciences to arts and humanities, including economics, sociology, computer sciences and engineering.In academia, heritage science is often performed by scientists spending a proportion of their time on heritage-related research. The academic field, judged by the number of academic outputs published annually, is steadily increasing. This could be taken to estimate the domain size – with the number of outputs in 2014 being 6,800, it could be assumed that there are about 3,000 heritage scientists active in the field. This goes against the generally held view that the field is small.
The proportion per country varies greatly, about 20% of researchers being active in the US, 15% in the UK, 10% in Italy, 5% France, and 5% in China.
Since 2013, the scientific domain has its own flagship journal, Heritage Science.
In 2013, the Mind the Gap project, funded by the UK EPSRC/AHRC Science and Heritage Programme, reported on the drivers and impediments in cross-disciplinary research. The project found that there is no gap between rigour and relevance in heritage science research but rather that there is a continuum of activity. However, there was less satisfaction with heritage science research in relation to its impact on practice, in comparison to its academic impact.
Education
The heritage science career paths are various. Due to the cross-disciplinary nature of heritage science, any academic background is suitable, from formal sciences, natural sciences to social sciences.Most researchers have entered the field by carrying out doctoral research in the field, which is due to the fact that there is currently no undergraduate course in this domain. Since 2010, Master's degree courses in heritage science have become available at University College London and Queens University Belfast. In Italy, students can obtain undergraduate and/or graduate degrees in conservation science at the University of Florence, University of Bologna, and a recently created programme at the University of Venice. Several other universities in Italy have faculty members whose primary research focus is in heritage science; these groups often accept international students who would like to obtain a PhD in the field. Taught courses in heritage science programmes include elements of heritage science, e.g. technical art history is often part of art history courses, and natural sciences are often taught in conservation courses. Brandenburg University of Technology in Germany offers the international Master's programme World Heritage Studies and PhD programme Heritage Studies.
At UCL, University of Oxford and University of Brighton, the Centre for Doctoral Training in Science and Engineering in Arts, Heritage and Archaeology was established in 2014. A key aspect of the SEAHA scheme is the collaborative nature of projects, enabling partnerships between academic institutions, industry and national heritage agencies and giving an applied focus to the research training.
Since the field requires significant cross-disciplinary and transferable skills, graduates may be able to take jobs in industry and academia. To work within the field of heritage science, a PhD in a field of science and significant experience in a heritage environment is typically required.
Professional Activities
Many major heritage institutions have heritage science departments:Several international professional associations have heritage science groups:
- Committee for Conservation, Working Group Scientific Research
- Institute for Conservation, Heritage Science Group
- Royal Society of Chemistry, Heritage Science Expert Working Group, which produces freely available Technical Briefs on a wide range of topics for conservators, scientists, and students