Lessons Learned at Joya de Cerén and Copán
Visitors on the main plaza of Tikal looking at the North Acropolis. Tikal is the most visited site of Guatemala and attracts both national and international visitors. Visitors can freely access temples and buildings, adding stress to the fragile fabric of the structures. The Tikal stone is a very fragile limestone and as a result, the most important sculptures have been covered by thatched roofs. The site is also used today by indigenous groups who come to celebrate traditional Maya ceremonies.
Broad dissemination of the results and lessons learned from the projects at Joya de Cerén and Copán has been carried out at local, regional, and international levels and has addressed a variety of audiences, from the general public to heritage professionals.
Work Completed
The results and analysis of the implementation of the management planning initiative at Joya de Cerén has been presented at a number of international forums, including the following:
Colloque International Angkor, Angkor, Cambodia, December 2002: "Joya de Cerén Management Plan: Integration of Activities and Management of Changes," presented by Françoise Descamps
Each year a meeting reconvenes all parties involved in the conservation and preservation of the archaeological park of Angkor, Cambodia. This meeting is organized within the framework of the International Coordination Committee for the Safeguarding and Development of Angkor. On this occasion the Joya de Cerén Management Plan process and content were presented to the participants.
La Gestión del Patrimonio Centralidad y Periferia, Forum UNESCO Universidad y Patrimonio, Facultad de Arquitectura, Diseño y Urbanismo, Buenos Aires, October 2004: "Joya de Cerén, El Salvador: un modelo de planificación integrada para el manejo de sitios arqueológicos," presented by Carolina Castellanos and Françoise Descamps
Forum UNESCO–University and Heritage (FUUH) is a worldwide network of universities created in 1995 by the Culture Sector of UNESCO. The FUUH network aims to share the experience and expertise of its members and to contribute to the advancement of knowledge in the field of heritage in a spirit of solidarity and intercultural dialogue. The network also aims to link together over four hundred universities and their staff and students with researchers and heritage professionals in the multiple cross-cutting disciplines related to cultural and natural heritage.
XXII Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas, Guatemala City, Guatemala, July 2008
A conservation panel, composed of heritage professionals working in the Maya region, was organized by the Conservation Institute for the XXII Simposio de Investigaciones Arqueológicas in Guatemala City on July 23, 2008. The panel focused on the conservation of archaeological sites in the region and aimed to raise awareness on the specific technical and managerial issues of archaeological sites exposed to environmental and human threats, as well as to explore potential ways to improve the conservation of Maya sites.
Papers related to the Institute’s projects included "Implementation of Planning Models for Heritage Management: The Case of Joya de Cerén, El Salvador," presented by Carolina Castellanos and Françoise Descamps, and "Making the Case for the In Situ Conservation of the Hieroglyphic Stairway in Copán: Interdisciplinary Condition Assessment and Monitoring over Time as a Basis for Intervention Planning," presented by Tom Roby, Eliud Guerra, and Rufino Membreño
Additional Activities
The lessons learned and results from the Joya de Cerén experience have also been used as a didactic tool in other Conservation Institute activities. The case was primarily used in the context of the Conservation and Management of Archaeological Sites Workshop in Hammamet, Tunisia, in spring 2007. The purpose of the workshop was to improve understanding of the issues, principles, and practices integral to sustainable archaeological site conservation, and it explored the methods of values-based assessments to help set priorities and develop a site management plan; architectural conservation and site interventions; theories, practices, and methodologies for site conservation; visitor management; and multidisciplinary collaborative work.