Conservación arqueológica social. Etnografías patrimoniales en el Barri Gòtic de Barcelona

Zusammenfassung

This doctoral thesis examines the social dimension of preventive conservation applied to urban archaeological heritage, as well as the benefits that an effective management of archaeological heritage can generate in the daily life of inhabitants. It is an investigation that has a special impact on the theoretical and methodological dimensions of archaeology and heritage and intends to lay the foundations for future applications. This work aims to generate a transdisciplinary framework between three fundamental subjects: archaeology, conservation and heritage management, in a manner that improves the dialogue between professionals, academics and administration technicians.One of the main contributions of the thesis is to explore the benefits of preventive archaeological conservation in urban open. The research focuses on a form of prevention associated with risk management, which is also the system recently adopted in preventive conservation by the Spanish Cultural Heritage Institute (Ministry of Culture and Sport 2018). The Gothic Quarter of Barcelona is the background of this study. By analysing this case study, the thesis explores at a theoretical, methodological and contextual level what are the main aspects that can foster the socialization of archaeological conservation. The Gothic Quarter, with its multi-temporal atmosphere characterised by buildings from different periods, acts as a suitable palimpsest that nurtures the research. The archaeological remains chosen are located in the following public spaces: Vila de Madrid, Vuit de Març and Traginers; and the recently created Carme Simò square, which in this work I refer to as the "Solar de la Muralla" or the "Solar de Sotstinent Navarro". In these plazas, the conservation challenges are approached in an innovative way, analysing both the risks derived from their intrinsic nature and those related to the urban fabric and other agents that act in the context. During my research I employed a set of ethnographic techniques in each of these sites, allowing me to analyse the interactions between heritage and society and to determine risks and conflicts through a holistic analysis. I have also tested and examined different modes of data representation on a methodological level. I have carried out my fieldwork during a long period of time between the years 2014 and 2017. During fieldwork I was able to analyze a series of specific or repeated events related to cultural heritage that have taken place in the Gothic neighbourhood which allow us to compare the ordinary and extraordinary dynamics of the use of space. In this sense, I explored the dynamics associated with the daily life of spaces, comparing its enjoyability and use throughout specific events. The "events" that took place in the squares to be studied, and in other neighbourhood ones, have been explored by dividing them in accordance with their nature: top-down and bottom-up. In this doctoral thesis I will propose that preventive conservation interventions in the public space should include the socio-cultural space which surrounds the cultural good, in alignment with the new theories on the conceptualisation of heritage as a cultural process. Through a fieldwork analysis, I have elaborated a series of methodological guidelines that I denominate "heritage ethnographies". These ethnographies allow us to obtain data directly related to the role of cultural heritage in the public space. These techniques have prompted me to design and carry out a series of risk analyses, to which I have incorporated a conflict analysis, in order to integrate these "society-heritage" interactions into the conservation diagnoses of cultural assets. These implementations will confer a social and inclusive dimension to the discipline of preventive conservation. Risks and conflicts involving the social fabric or users of public space will be incorporated into the overall risk assessment of the cultural property, and hence its mitigation dynamics. As a conclusion I propose that by transforming and preserving the context and including the synergies between heritage and users of space, we can resignify and emphasize the sense of belonging. I therefore defend the pursuit and consecution of a curative sense that is adapted to the mutations that occur and transform the city.