Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Tourism And Archaeology

http://www.gorkhapatra.org.np/pageloader.php?file=2005/04/27/editorial/editorial2
Zahi Hawass talking about the impacts of tourism on archaeology.
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2 comments:

Homo Insapiens said...

Very thought provoking. I remember visiting in the Valley of the Kings years ago and brushing against a tomb wall inadvertantly. After exiting, I realised there were small flecks of colour on my shirt. I still feel a bit like a vandal.

But to deny these wonders to people seems equally wrong. I wonder if a regime similar to the Galapagos Islands would be useful...Highly controlled visits
augmented by high quality videos, lectures and simulations.

As always, yur blog is well worth the visit -- regards

2:50 am
Andie said...

Hello there

We haven't talked for ages - nice to hear from you. I've just been editing dating an unusual spate of spam from the blog and nearly deleted your comment by accident! Very glad I didn't.

I did exactly the same thing in a tomb at Saqqara - some insect shot past my face and I jumped. I only slightly touched the tomb wall, but there was dust from the painted surface on my arm, which could easily have been a lot worse.

The whole Valley of the Kings dilemma is such a nightmare - unique treasures that thousands of people come to visit, and inadvertently damage in the process - even by breathing. I don't know whether the tomb of Nefertari In the Valley of the Queens is open or closed at the moment, but even with all their efforts in controlling both the atmosphere and the visitor numbers, I believe that there have been concerns over renewed tourist impact on the condition of the paintings.

There was a lot of talk at one stage about creating a replica of Seti I's tomb at Giza, and I know that a replica of Lascaux in France was created - a high cost approach, but it would be interesting to know how successful such solutions are. Once built, after all, they would be relatively easy to maintain.

Mind, I actually haven't heard anything about the Seti I tomb in a long time!

All the best
Andie

10:40 am

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