Archaeology and Cultural history

Heritage conservation and management of landscapes is evident in many recent European policies and national reports on the state of the environment. To assist in the management of heritage resources, we present a landscape approach to the identification of localities with a high probability of possessing cultural heritage interests. The low proportion of sites registered in Norway (an estimated 20%) combined with current rates of damage gives the location of archaeological sites and their vulnerability to land use change high priority. To optimise use of the results for landscape planning, the study describes analysis at two hierarchical scales: (1) the regional level—where the aim was to locate combinations of environmental resources suitable for human use—for application in strategic planning; and (2) the landscape level—where identifying and delimiting cultural environments for local planning was the aim. This paper focuses on one type of archaeological site, Bronze and Iron Age grave mounds. The project used geographic information systems (GIS) for the analysis and mapping of landscape characteristics that indicate zones with a high probability of possessing cultural heritage interest. These zones covered ca. 12% of the forested areas of the region yet captured 94% of the registered grave mounds. New fieldwork confirmed the presence of new sites in the zones identified. Results have increased our understanding of archaeological site location in Norway and the close links between landscape ecology and archaeology.

The multifunctional role of agriculture as a producer of collective goods in addition to food and fibre, has been stressed within the context of negotiations on the liberalization of the world market for food (WTO) and in general in discussions concerning restructuring of the agricultural sector. One of these collective goods, cultural heritage, is connected to agricultural practice and covers objects, sites and areas influenced by agricultural activity, as well as experience based knowledge of work, resource utilization and management. Agriculture is seen both as a threat to and a caretaker of cultural heritage. This double role is recognized in Norway, although the responsibility of the agricultural sector as a caretaker of cultural heritage is stressed. This article investigates the connection between agriculture and cultural heritage as expressed by public and private actors who define the policy agenda, namely the cultural heritage or environmental, the agricultural and tourism sectors. This is done by analysing explicit and implicit value judgements in central concepts like ''cultural heritage'', ''active agriculture'' and ''added value''. The Norwegian case is compared to the international context. The analysis shows that within a Nordic context active farming and cultural heritage is positively linked and the farmer is seen as a major caretaker, while in documents from dominant international actors cultural heritage is seen as something on the side of active farming. Although differences reflect some actual variation in the consequences of agricultural practices, it is clear that concepts serve as 'legitimizing tools' placing central actors within a specific political agenda. r

NINAs publikasjoner NINA Rapport Dette er en ny, elektronisk serie fra 2005 som erstatter de tidligere seriene NINA Fagrapport, NINA Oppdragsmelding og NINA Project Report. Normalt er dette NINAs rapportering til oppdragsgiver etter gjennomført forsknings-, overvåkings-eller utredningsarbeid. I tillegg vil serien favne mye av instituttets øvrige rapportering, for eksempel fra seminarer og konferanser, resultater av eget forsknings-og utredningsarbeid og litteraturstudier. NINA Rapport kan også utgis på annet språk når det er hensiktsmessig.

Rapporten presenterer resultat frå prosjektet Kulturarv som grunnlag for verdiskaping (norsk omsetjing), der forskarane har sett nærare på ulike sider ved verdiskaping knytt opp mot kulturarv i to ulike case – Valdres natur- og kulturpark og Vega verdsarv. Sjølv om det i forskingslitteraturen vert hevda at kulturarven i aukande grad har blitt gjort til gjenstand for «instrumentalisering», er det likevel ikkje einast økonomisk vinning som har lege til grunn for verken Vega verdsarv eller Valdres natur- og kulturpark. Like mykje har det vore trivsel, identitet og det å auke kjensla av å høyre til. Det er urimeleg å forvente at ein verdsarvstatus eller ein natur- og kulturpark skal føre til at alle kvalitetar og verdiar i eit lokalsamfunn eller ein stad skal sikrast i all framtid. Den generelle samfunnsutviklinga verkar også inn på det lokale nivået, det vere seg både nasjonale og globale prosessar. Denne rapporten drøftar ulike element i samfunnsutviklinga sin innverknad på både utvel...