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MEGALITHStonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site Newsletter SU
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Thank you to the following people who havecontributed to this edition of Megalith:
Jenny Butler Gill Swanton Briony Clifton Jessica Trethowan Holly Corfield Carr Andrew WeaverTimothy DarvillJacqueline DayAdrian GreenRob IrvingSarah Simmonds
Contact us at
Stonehenge and Avebury WHS Coordination UnitWiltshire and Swindon History CentreCocklebury RoadChippenhamWiltshireSN15 3QN
[email protected]. 01225 718 470
Sarah SimmondsStonehenge and Avebury WHS Partnership [email protected]
Liam WisemanStonehenge and Avebury WHS Partnership [email protected]
www.stonehengeandaveburywhs.org
@StoneAveWHS
Compiled by Liam Wiseman
Designed by Michael Goddard [email protected]
Published by Stonehenge and Avebury WHS Coordination Unit 2017
Supported by Historic England and Wiltshire Council
MEGALITHStonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site Newsletter SUMMER 2017
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Welcome to the sixth edition of Megalith, the annual newsletter for theStonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site.
Following last year’s celebrations for the30th anniversary of the inscription ofStonehenge, Avebury and AssociatedSites on the World Heritage List (moreon page 6), we are feeling inspired aboutthe next 30 years of working with partners and communities to undertakeeven more exciting projects and increasing our understanding of thisunique and internationally importantlandscape.
This edition of Megalith includes articlesexploring the different ways Stonehengeand Avebury inspires people. It includesarticles on how the World Heritage Site has inspired artists, archaeologists and those who work there. On page 14 you can read about the exhibition at Salisbury Museum where you can see pictures inspired by the ancient landscape. You can read about what inspires a National Trust archaeologist on page 12 and a Historic Property Steward atStonehenge on page 24.
Stonehenge and Avebury World HeritageSite continues to inspire people every dayand we are always interested in seeingand hearing about your responses to it.We hope this issue of Megalith will helpto inspire you to go out and enjoy lookingat the World Heritage Site in new ways.
The World Heritage Site works witha range of partner organisations from all sectors including charities like the National Trust and English Heritage, government departments such as Historic England, and Salisbury Museumand Wiltshire Museums.
To learn more about the World HeritageSite and its management, visit:
www.stonehengeandaveburywhs.org,
follow us on Twitter @StoneAveWHS
or like us on our shiny new Facebookpage: Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site.
We hope that you enjoy this edition of Megalith. Please contact us if you'd like to find out more
Sarah Simmonds Stonehenge and AveburyWHS Partnership Manager
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Welcome to the sixth edition of Megalith
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At the end of November 2016,Liam Wiseman joinedthe World HeritageSite Co-ordinationUnit as the new Stonehenge and Avebury World
Heritage Site Partnership Officer. Liam joins Sarah Simmonds (World Heritage Partnership Manager) in promoting coordinated and effectivepartnership working across the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site to help achieve the aimsof the Management Plan. Liam has a background in heritage, having studiedan MA in Heritage Management at BathSpa University and worked as a Development Officer at Exeter Cathedral. He is proud to be workingwith the Stonehenge and AveburyWorld Heritage Site as it representssome of the most impressive feats ofhuman prehistory.
To find out more about how the WHS is managed please take a look atour website
www.stonehengeandaveburywhs.org
or follow us on Twitter @StoneAveWHS
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The new World Heritage Site boundary signs havebeen installed along roads leadinginto the World Heritage Site.
You may notice that on the A4 at Avebury the new boundary sign is in a slightly different location. The reasonfor this is the original boundary signhere did not mark the actual boundaryof the World Heritage Site landscape.The new sign is in the exact spot theboundary begins.
In addition plaquesmarking the inscription of theWHS in 1986 wereproduced for bothStonehenge andAvebury.
The Stonehenge plaque appears on the Visitor Centre and is a popular spotfor photos for visitors; particularly thosefrom abroad. All WHSs have theseplaques which are a marker of their international importance. Thanks go toEnglish Heritage, the National Trust and the Avebury WHS Charity for theirsupport.
Breaking BoundariesIntroductions
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Avebury henge looking towards West Kennet Avenue
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In 1986 Stonehenge and Avebury wereamong the first seven sites in the UK to beinscribed on the UNESCO World HeritageList. World Heritage Site status givesStonehenge and Avebury internationalrecognition alongside sites such thePyramids, the Great Wall of China and theGalapagos Islands as a place of exceptionalimportance to all humanity.
2016 saw the 30th anniversary ofStonehenge and Avebury gaining WorldHeritage Site status, with WHS partnerorganisations celebrating the achievementwith a series of events including a majorconference.
On Saturday 19th November 2016, the 30th Anniversary conference tookplace at the Devizes Corn Exchange andwith 170 attendees, the venue was soldout. The conference explored the researchover the last 30 years that has led toenormous advances in our understandingof the World Heritage Site landscapes.Expert panellists also discussed thepotential for future exciting discoveries.
Alongside presentations fromarchaeologists involved in researchincluding the most recent work atDurrington Walls, there were talks onachievements made since inscriptionincluding improvements in conservationand steps forward in how we present the World Heritage Site including the new Stonehenge Visitor Centre. The inspiration offered by the WorldHeritage for artists and popular culturewas also explored, with talks by DavidInshaw and Julian Richards.
Alistair Sommerlad, Chair of the Stonehengeand Avebury World Heritage SitePartnership Panel, was delighted that theconference was such a success. “WorldHeritage Site status is an enormouslyimportant accolade for Stonehenge andAvebury. It brings with it internationalrecognition as well as the responsibility forboth protecting these two outstandinglandscapes and raising awareness of whythey are so important. We are extremelyhappy that there has been so much interestin the opportunity to learn more about theWorld Heritage Site and to celebrate thissignificant anniversary.”
The conference opened with a messagefrom Mechtild Rössler, the Director of theUNESCO World Heritage Centre in Paris,who congratulated Stonehenge and Aveburyon their anniversary and praised theexemplary management and partnershipworking in the World Heritage Site.
With a wide variety of conference speakers including academics from Franceand the National Museums of Scotland aswell as representatives from major heritageorganisations and Natural England, itprovided a fascinating and fitting celebrationto the first 30 years of one of the mosticonic World Heritage Sites in the UK.
30 Fantastic Years of World HeritageCelebrated!
A message of congratulations from Dr Mechtild Rössler, the Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre in Paris, to open the anniversary conference A panel of expert archaeologists take questions from the audience
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Why the Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site is so beneficial for Wiltshire and its tourism
No visit to Wiltshire would be completewithout experiencing the magic of ourWorld Heritage Site. On a misty morningat Avebury you can understand theappeal this sacred place held for ourancestors, and if you stand on SalisburyPlain at sunrise or sunset it’s easy to seewhy the prehistoric people believedStonehenge was special.
Instantly recognisable, Stonehenge is atimeless wonder, familiar to people theworld over. According to the latest figures from VisitBritain, in 2015 it toppedthe bill as the most visited paid-forattraction in the South West (the 8thmost visited in England), while ALVA, theAssociation of Leading Visitor Attractions,ranked it at number 22 in the whole ofthe UK for 2016, recording over 1.38million visits.
Shrouded in mystery, steeped in legend,the iconic locations of Stonehenge andAvebury have been drawing people tothem for thousands of years. Togetherwith the many other ancient sites to befound across the surrounding landscape,they act as a magnet, attracting visitors to Wiltshire not only from within the UKbut also from overseas.
Whether on a day trip from London, a shortbreak or a longer holiday, these visitors makea huge contribution to Wiltshire’s economy,benefitting local businesses from everysector of tourism, from hotels and B&Bs topubs and restaurants, transport providers totour guides. In fact, so keen are people tostay nearby, that Stonehenge even has its own accommodation page on theVisitWiltshire website.
Once here, with such a wealth of otherplaces to visit and things to do on offeracross Wiltshire, visitors can be enticed to
stay longer and discover more, causing a ripple effect that can be felt all
around the county.
Featuring on the itineraries of numeroustour operators and coach organisers, andattracting a never-ending stream of journalistsand bloggers keen to write about theirexperiences, the value of Wiltshire’s WorldHeritage Site is as immense as the stonecircles themselves, representing a hugecontribution to the county’s Visitor Economy,which currently supports over 29,000 jobs and generates an estimated £1.5 billion overall.
Jenny ButlerMarketing Services Manager, Visit Wiltshire
For further information on accommodation,places to visit and things to do across thewhole of Wiltshire go to
www.visitwiltshire.co.uk
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The term ‘ritual landscape’ was not always so widely accepted byarchaeologists. The word ritual has become shorthand for describing the care shown in placing objects such as bones, stones, and barrows in a special way, but we can only guess at what beliefs and abstract ideas inspired the Neolithic monument builders.Yet, alien and unrecoverable as this distant past is, its visible remains carry a strand of cultural DNA which connects to the present.
As Jeanette Winterson noted, we can visit the past through art ‘and the furtherback we look, the stronger we can sensethe human spirit as always existing’. Anyone moved by the visual aesthetic ofbarrows on a skyline can experience this.
So what is ritual? It is the performance of a sequence of symbolic acts leading totransition and resolution, where objectsstand for mythical concepts. Think of theritual landscape as a theatrical stage setmade special by physical modificationsintended for this purpose, attracting peoplefrom far and wide. Such gatherings wouldvalidate communal belief, reinforcing socialbonds and hierarchies, and cementing linksbetween communities whilst maintainingcultural and geographical identities.
Unlike a few years ago, archaeologistsare no longer expected to explain ritualbut to ask how they can contribute to a broadening understanding of ritual. This extends to activities that giveprominence to performance andmemory, leading to a more intuitiveunderstanding of how such landscapeswere used. At Silbury Hill, for example,its initial deposits included soil and turfsbrought from elsewhere. This ritual act is paralleled with the bluestones atStonehenge, transported from westWales, 140 miles away. The effortrequired indicates the extent to whichmemory and meaning were entwinedwith place in the minds of the peoplewho performed this activity. Today we’dcall this conceptual art. As an artistinterested in the relationship betweenart and ritual, I see ritual landscapes asexamples in a long tradition of placesthat act as portals to the otherworldly –manmade environments that bothinspire and, most importantly, reflectback, magical thought.
I applaud the WHS initiative asking how art can enrich our experience andunderstanding of ritual landscapes. No one can claim expertise on howthese sites should be interpreted; we are allowed to dream, to reveal how,as Rebecca Solnit put it, ‘the mostsuccessful artists reach farthest beyondwhat they can know to become part ofstrangers’ imagination.’
Dr. Rob Irving Artist
Art & Ritual
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Living Landscapes
Listen to the tone in the voices of peopleas they talk about either half of theStonehenge and Avebury World HeritageSite. It is often steeped in curiosity,excitement and awe.
What is so incredible about these landscapes is the way in which they evokethis enthusiasm and delight in people today.We can hear the passionate words ofarchaeologists, artists, locals, historians,photographers, tourists and more; this is a landscape that moves us.
This outpouring of enthusiasm is thereason I love this place so much. Listening to people who are inspired bythe landscapes inspires me. Last summerthe Hidden Landscape Project, theStonehenge Riverside Project and theNational Trust came together for anexcavation at Durrington Walls anduncovered a previously unknown LateNeolithic monument underneath thehenge bank.
These prehistoric people, forreasons still unknown, cametogether and through enormousendeavour created themonuments around us; thestones, barrows and earthworksthat continue to inspire andmystify today. The gold, the tools,weapons, vessels and objectsthey made or traded provide uswith that special link to thepeople of the past, showing ustheir humanity, while at the same time shrouding the past in mystery.
The ‘how’ intrigues us and can leave us looking on inwonder, but these were peoplewith immense skill andimagination and should not beunderestimated. Details about‘why’ remain faint. We are not,after all, Neolithic or Bronze
Age people; we do not have their culture,values, or knowledge, and there arecountless motives, complexities andreactions that we cannot penetrate. This is perhaps what makes them sointriguing and attractive to us.
Briony CliftonArchaeology Assistant, Stonehenge and Avebury WHS
www.nationaltrust.org.uk
One of my jobs for the fortnight of the dig was public engagement. Every time I spoke to interested people visiting the digor to the archaeologists working on site, I was transported into my own imagining ofthe Late Neolithic at Durrington Walls.
These are not the only people who provideinspiration. Each half of the Stonehenge andAvebury WHS is among the most preciousand remarkable landscapes you will comeacross, in the world. It was the people of thepast who built and transformed it.
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Silbury Hill, from the car park Excavations at Durrington Walls, August 2016 © Clare King
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British Art Ancient Landscapes is the firstexhibition dedicated exclusively to artisticviews of British prehistory and includesworks by British artists from the 18thcentury to the present day.
Stonehenge features quite strongly in theexhibition, having frequently appeared intopographical paintings, prints and drawingsfrom the 16th century onwards.
In the late 18th century JMW Turner visitedthe site and sketched what he saw. This, andlater visits, were to inspire his astonishingwatercolour of Stonehenge that appeared in the celebrated Picturesque Views in Englandand Wales series of engravings in the late1820s (the original watercolour is inSalisbury Museums’ collection). Turner’scontemporary and rival John Constableproduced A watercolour of Stonehenge in1836, which like Turner, went beyond thetopographical to encourage an emotionalresponse to the monument.
Constable and Turner are not the only artistswho have been inspired by Stonehenge andthe prehistoric landscape of Wessex. The exhibition includes 20th century artistssuch as Paul Nash, John Piper and EricRavilious who have all taken an imaginativeand creative interest in ancient sites andlandscapes. Nash was captivated withAvebury, seeking a different approach to the scientific archaeological interpretationand restoration work undertaken there inthe 1930s. Piper was similarly fascinated with Avebury, whilst Ravilious is well-knownfor his landscape paintings that feature chalkhill figures.
British Art Ancient Landscapes is curated by Professor Sam Smiles, a leading expert inthe field. It takes Wiltshire as its starting point, but goes beyond this to look at other sites in other parts of the British Isles includingCornwall, Wales and Scotland. There is aparticular emphasis on megalithic sites, but we have not restricted the exhibition to looking at just 2D work, for example we have Two Figures (Menhirs) by BarbaraHepworth on loan from the Tate.
British Art: Ancient Landscapes at Salisbury Museum
The most surprising discoverymade during the research forthe exhibition were two oilpaintings by the film directorDerek Jarman of Avebury and a short film from 1971 calledA Journey to Avebury Shot on16mm film one could be fooledinto thinking it is a home moviebut it is so much more. It captures an empty landscapeof trackways, vegetation,earthworks and stones – thesepia tones at odds with thegreen landscape that one knowsit to be. The film and one of thepaintings are featured in theexhibition.
Adrian GreenDirector, Salisbury Museum
British Art: Ancient Landscapes is on at Salisbury Museumuntil 3 September 2017.
A restored Stonehenge / Alan Sorrell © The Salisbury Museum
Stonehenge moonlight / Yoshijiro Urushibara © The Salisbury Museum
Stonehenge during a storm, J M W Turner © The Salisbury Musem
Stonehenge 1919 Linocut / Horace Brodzky © The Salisbury Museum
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In 2016 the fourth successive and highlysuccessful Open Farm Sunday was held at Manor Farm, Avebury Trusloe, courtesy of the Butler family and in the heart of theWHS. The event is organised by theMarlborough Downs Nature EnhancementProject (formerly Nature ImprovementArea). Many of its members have property in the WHS and have been very supportiveof the historic environment. There weretractor and trailer rides to Windmill Hill,where it was demonstrated how conservingthe historic and natural environments weretaking place together.
The WHS has taken part in all the OFS events and attracts a lot of interest.The WHS displays and members of the Coordination Unit had fun playing"where in the world is this WorldHeritage Site?" – often the children knowmore than their parents!
In 2016 one of the main themes wasploughing through the ages. Displays weremuch enhanced by the kind loan ofold farm machinery from the collectionsof The Wiltshire Museum, some of whichwas manufactured locally at the BrattonIronworks. The Director of the Museum,David Dawson, kindly attended all day.
A big thank you to all who assisted.
Gill SwantonWHS Farmer, archaeologist and co-chair of Avebury and Stonehenge Archaeologicaland Historical Research Group
We were also able to show a film of the construction in 1960 of the OvertonDown Experimental Earthwork whichhad kindly been transferred to DVD anddonated to the archive by Ray Sutcliffe. A programme very much of its time andwith commentaries from eminentarchaeologists sadly no longer with usbut full of character and fascinating tomany visitors.
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Suzie Swanton and a lamb called Jaws © marlborough.news
Ever popular trailer rides © marlborough.news World Heritage Site Pictionary with Sarah Simmonds
When I set out on a walking workshop, thefirst thing I invite writers to do is to turntheir notebooks on their sides. It’s a smalladjustment in page orientation but in turningour attention from portrait to landscape, we begin to lose ourselves a little in theopen treeless landscape around Stonehenge.Just as a painter might paint a portrait, thisquick exercise invites writers to think abouthow they might write a landscape. We try a few more experiments: we write in the close detail of the woods and makequick breezy sketches while walking alongthe Cursus barrows. We throw bright hoopsinto the air and write poetic surveys of theminiature landscapes they enclose.By the end of the walk, we have dug deepinto the layers of the landscape withoutleaving a mark.
This summer I am hosting a series of publicoutdoor writing workshops taking place in the landscape between Stonehenge andthe nearby town of Amesbury, a place wherethe shallow chalk landscape is denselymarked by a sense of deep time. Even a jagged bit of flint collected from thelocal river prompted students at AmesburyArcher Primary School to think about thesame small portion of the landscape alteringover millennia.
They wrote brilliantly strange stories aboutdinosaur teeth and space flight, some of myfavourites from the project so far.
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These written landscapes, imagined by new and experienced writers from acrossWiltshire and the South West, will bepublished in a collection of poems,photographs and walking routes called loopto both mark and guide the beginning of a new long-term art plan for the town ofAmesbury, managed by Ginkgo Projects.
More information is available fromwww.loop.org.uk.
Holly Corfield Carr
Holly Corfield Carr is an award-winning poet andresearcher based between Bristol and Cambridge whereshe researches geology, sculpture and site-specific writingpractices in contemporary poetry.
Loop in the Landscape
Outdoor Writing Workshops in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site
Earlier this year Highways England unveiledits proposals to upgrade the A303 where it passes through the Stonehenge WorldHeritage Site. The proposals include a 2.9km tunnel beneath part of the WHS as well as new or improved junctions withthe A345 and A360 and a new bypass forWinterbourne Stoke.
Highways England is now reviewing thewealth of information people gave them and carrying out further surveys as theydevelop the preferred route . The Secretary of State for Transport is expected toannounce his or her preferred route for the scheme later this year. People will thenget another chance to give their opinions in a round of statutory public consultationsbefore an application is submitted in 2018.
More than 9,000 people and organisationsresponded as part of the public consultationon the proposal between January and March, and around 2,500 attended the tenexhibitions.
For more information visit the HighwaysEngland website at
www.highways.gov.uk/a303stonehenge
Photoshopped impression of the A303 near Stonehenge restored to grass
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Public Consultation onproposals to upgradethe A303 through theWorld Heritage Site
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Human Henge: Cultural Heritage Therapy in action
Run by the Restoration Trust inpartnership with Bournemouth University, English Heritage, and the RichmondFellowship, with support from the NationalTrust and Avon and Wiltshire MentalHealth Trust; this innovative project takesparticipants on journeys of discoverythrough the Stonehenge landscape.
Using natural and constructed landscapes to promote health and well-being has a longand distinguished history stretching back tothe pilgrimages of Medieval times. Human Henge takes the idea one stepfurther by combining archaeology andcreativity in a World Heritage Site as a wayof improving mental health and reaching outto marginalised communities.
The project builds on the idea thatStonehenge was once a place of healing by exploring the relationships betweenpeople and place in the past and the present.Thinking about how people might have usedancient places, come together for communalendeavours, interacted, and created socialnetworks creates opportunities to breakdown some of the emotional barriers thatunderpin many mental health issues.
By spending time at a selection of the sites,singing, dancing, making music, and lookingboth inwards and outwards it becomespossible to connect with the landscape, the skyscape, the monuments, and, mostimportantly, with ourselves and with otherparticipants. As one participant reflectedafter a visit to King Barrow Ridge: ‘it wasabout connecting on a personal level withthe landscape by listening to the birds and the wind, feeling the cold, sitting in the grass and being surrounded by these amazing burial monuments’.
Through a programme of participant-ledactivities, local people living with mental health problems and on low incomes, cometogether for fun and therapeutic adventures.Experts, carers, support workers, andcontributors from a range of culturesfacilitate journeys through the remarkableand inspiring landscape of the WorldHeritage Site. Each programme involves tenhalf-day sessions that are held in differentparts of the landscape, including DurringtonWalls and Woodhenge, the Cuckoo Stone,the King Barrow Ridge barrow cemetery, andthe reconstructed houses and displays at thevisitor centre. Each programme culminateswith an early-morning ceremony insideStonehenge, designed and executed by theparticipants themselves.The project is fundedby the Heritage Lottery Fund, AmesburyArea Board, and English Heritage, and willrun until June 2018. To find out more visit ourweb-pages at: http://humanhenge.org/
Professor Timothy Darvill and the Human Henge Team
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Dancing in the Stonehenge landscape
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There has been a large amount of interest in recent years from artists and creativeprofessionals working in the Stonehengeand Avebury World Heritage Site and wewould like to help this to continue.
This is why we are now working moreclosely than ever before with Wiltshire ArtsService to publish case studies of somefantastic examples of art, theatre and othercreative practises inspired by the WorldHeritage Site. This is an attempt to helpartists and creative professionals understandthe challenges and physical constraintsrelated to working with such a sensitivelandscape, as well as identify opportunitiesfor creative practise and collaboration. Some examples include Rob Irving’s RitualLandscape exhibition focusing on Aveburyand the Defender of the Dead a play set atStonehenge by Sian Williams. The arts scene in Wiltshire is something thathas the potential to widen our ways ofunderstanding the WHS and stimulategreater opportunities for engagement withthis magnificent landscape.
The Arts Framework for the World Heritage Site, currently under development,will provide a valuable resource for a variety of artists interested in the inspiration andopportunities related to the World Heritage Site.
For more information see Stonehenge and Avebury World Heritage Site websiteor the Arts in Wiltshire blog.
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On some days we will change the route of the paths around the monument or movethe bridge over the Stonehenge Avenueslightly so that no area gets overly troddenor worn. With 1.3 million visitors fromacross the world coming to Stonehengeeach year, each day brings new conversationsand interesting experiences: talking topeople with fascinating stories or memoriesof Stonehenge, leading a guided tour of thestone circle, monitoring exhibitionenvironmental controls, making sure a TV crew doesn’t get in the way of ourvisitors, or celebrity spotting and just beingpart of an amazing team. I find it incrediblyrewarding to be a part of our living historyand proud to help look after and presentone of the most iconic and importantmonuments in the world to people fromacross the planet every day.
The day at Stonehenge starts forty fiveminutes before we open to the public with a morning briefing where we hear about theimportant events of the day. After collectingkeys and radios, it’s time to get to work. You could be working at the monumentitself, in the exhibition, or a number of otherlocations. One day you might be sellingtickets and guidebooks and on a summer’sday you could be welcoming the best part of 9000 visitors, each one of whom isexcited to see the famous stone circle forthe first, second or third time! The next day you could be helping peopleon to the shuttle bus with wheelchairs,buggies and luggage, chatting to tour leadersand ensuring people are safe and happywherever they are.
And then there is the monument. Here every day begins with an officialhandover from the night security team. The moment they say, “Over to you” makes me happy every time! A check of the monument, the ground, thestones and the lichens on their surfaces (there are 77 different types) will determine whether there is anything to report back to the curator.
The ground condition must be monitored inside and outside of the stone circle, as our visitors need to be able to enjoy their visit without fear of falling over, slipping or sliding on mud. Also, some of the archaeology is quite near the surface so it’s important that footfall is restricted in certain places.
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Historic Property Steward English Heritage
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At the end of last year the World HeritageSite Partnership Manager Sarah Simmondswas invited to present a paper at aninternational seminar on managing WorldHeritage cultural landscapes. The objectiveof the UNESCO-funded seminar was toencourage the exchange of best practicebetween professionals working in WorldHeritage Sites across the globe.
The seminar took place in Santo Angelo inthe state of Rio Grande do Sul in SouthernBrazil near the Jesuit Missions of the GuaraniIndians. This is a transnational WorldHeritage Site focussed on the impressiveremains of five 17th and 18th century Jesuitmissions, built in the land of the GuaraniIndians in both Brazil and Argentina. Those who have seen the 1986 film TheMission starring Robert De Niro and JeremyIrons may recognise some of thephotographs.
UNESCO funded experts from countriesincluding Columbia, Spain, the USA, Peru,Mexico and Portugal to come to Brazil toshare their experience of all aspects ofmanaging World Heritage Site landscapesfrom drafting legislation and policy toconservation, interpretation, communityparticipation and economic regeneration. The landscapes discussed included theCoffee Cultural Landscape of Columbia,Prehistoric Rock Art Sites in the Côa Valleyin Portugal, the Agave Landscape and AncientIndustrial Facilities of Tequila in Mexico andthe Sacred City of Caral-Supe in thePeruvian Andes, a 5000-year-old 626-hectarearchaeological site which is the oldest centreof civilization in the Americas.
Despite the apparent diversity of landscapes and national contexts it soonbecame clear there are many commonchallenges in protecting and presenting these World Heritage Sites. The seminarprovided a wonderful opportunity to learnfrom international colleagues and share the UK’s experience in meeting thesechallenges.
Many thanks are due to Brazil’s Institute of National Historical and Artistic Heritage for organising this invaluable seminar, and to UNESCO for covering all costs for the participants which made it possible to take part.
Sarah Simmonds
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Cultural Landscapes International Seminar, Brazil
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Ruins of Sao Miguel das Missoes one of the five Jesuit Missions, Brazil
Guarani Indian singing group in traditional dress
