Cultural heritage under the scrutiny of science
The memory of Europeans is written in stone, transcribed in works of art and mirrored in objects that have founded their culture for centuries. Yet such vestiges of time are often seriously ailing. Why? Because atmospheric pollution, inappropriate methods of conservation and restoration, visitors in their droves ... have all taken their toll. Nursing the treasures back to health are climatologists, chemists, microbiologists, conservators, architects, engineers, all working together in pluridisciplinary teams under the aegis of the European Commission. The current picture Much of Europe's cultural heritage is to be found in an urban environment. Towns and cities are not only home to 80% of the European population, but are also major hubs of activity - subject to traffic, pollution and wear and tear. However, for several decades now, defaced and diseased monuments have been undergoing `face-lifts' to restore their original lustre. Unfortunately, such operations all too often fail to respect the frailty of materials. Works of art housed in museums suffer the effects of modern technologies, such as air-conditioning and lighting, while micro-organisms feed on priceless masterpieces. Poor preservation conditions cause pigments to dry out, parchments to turn mouldy and wood to crumble. While making a considerable contribution to the coffers of those `managing' heritage, mass tourism does have its adverse effects. Hordes of people mean pollution, and the more sensitive sites have been forced to restrict public. As for nature, its cataclysms have also made their mark, with the Assisi earthquake being the most recent. A shared interest For some years now, scientists (climatologists, chemists, biologists, conservators, architects and engineers) have been at the `bedside' of Europe's heritage to sound out, study and search for new preventive methods, and to test restoration and conservation techniques. Their pluridisciplinary approach is essential, as is their cross-border cooperation, for the benefits of their work span well beyond any one given site. Systematic analysis of various sites allows for comparative studies to be made. Their combined efforts meet an interest shared by all countries eager to safeguard their cultural heritage. Europe comes on the scene ... For over a decade, the European Commission has lent its support to the largest international programme on research into environmental damage to cultural heritage. Some 180 partners have been involved in multidisciplinary projects throughout Europe - and extending well beyond the Member States, as Norway, Switzerland and central European countries have also participated. These projects to further scientific and technological knowledge and expertise for the protection and rehabilitation of cultural heritage have as their objectives: to understand the causes, mechanisms and effects of environmental damage to cultural landmarks and to analyse the remedial treatments applied; to develop and validate appropriate conservation and restoration methods and technologies; to evaluate the risks incurred by the use of technologies and by mass tourism; to create guidelines and best practice for sound and sustainable management of cultural heritage resources. ... in four stages Since 1986 - when cultural heritage constituted one of the specific facets of programmes concerned with the environment - the research priorities supported by the Commission have evolved in four main phases: Phase I (1986-1990) The effects of pollution on historic buildings were studied in ten projects. Architecture is the most symbolic and most visible facet of cultural heritage. The priority was to focus on analysing the material soundness of stone, largo sensu, that is to say, marble, limestone and granite, and its interface with the environment. These materials have deteriorated at an alarming rate this past century due to air pollution. Most of the treatments previously applied proved ineffective because of insufficient knowledge of the causes and mechanisms that should have been addressed. During this first phase, research teams investigated and compared the effect of pollutants on different historic buildings across the EU - for example, how the marble of the Parthenon reacted to nitric acid and nitrates. Chemical micro-analysis techniques and ultrasound technology were developed to investigate these vulnerable materials. Phase II (1989-1992) Within the scope of the STEP programme, the range of materials studied was extended. The budget for this research rose to 5.5 MECU (compared to 0.75 MECU in the first period). Eight projects were selected. Two concerned the deterioration of granite (megaliths and cathedrals) in very different environments: continental Spain and Brittany (F), in a humid climate, and the region of Porto (P), which is particularly polluted. Another focused on how pollutants are deposited on and interact with the surface of buildings. Through the combined efforts of 14 laboratories in nine European countries, another project analysed different monuments, taking into account the influence of climatological, biological and human factors (restoration, etc.) on stone and mortar. For the first time, elements other than buildings were considered. Some researchers studied the degenerative processes affecting leather (primarily book covers in library archives), others looked at how paper reacts to its environment, and another team studied the condition of metal objects from archaeological sites. Phase III (1991-1994) Within the scope of the Environment programme, researcher networks were strengthened. Eighteen projects were selected. Two concentrated on a fragile material characteristic of both northern and southern European architecture: brick. Thanks to a wealth of expertise, laboratory analysis of samples, in situ resistance tests, in-depth investigation of the very fabric of buildings, and surface treatment analysis, major advances have been made in this field. Around the Mediterranean coast region, the effect of the marine environment (sea salt spray) on monuments came under scrutiny. Other projects focused on coatings for the conservation of bronze sculptures, the treatment of wood, and the use of non-intrusive analysis techniques (tomographic X-ray, ultrasounds, radar) for the evaluation of damage. Phase IV (1995-1998) Nineteen projects were supported under the Environment and Climate programme. They included study of the world's oldest relics, namely prehistoric cave paintings, more particularly in Altamira, in northern Spain (ROCK ART). (This research beautifully illustrates the synergy value of these EU programmes in that one German pharmaceutical laboratory is currently studying an unknown bacterium discovered on the cave walls). The effect of technologies (air-conditioning, heating, lighting) and of mass tourism were studied in four European museums by climatologists, chemists and microbiologists (AER). ISTECH focused on the development of innovative techniques (a new alloy) to improve the resistance of historic buildings to earthquakes and of anti-seismic techniques to reinforce such structures without spoiling them. Others concerned new investigation techniques to safely and reliably assess the condition of wooden works of art (SAVE ART), or innovative treatments for the preservation and restoration of monuments (NEW SURFACE) (surface treatments and biocides in particular). This work has been oriented towards the RTD needs of cultural heritage managers and technicians (local authorities, museums and libraries, SMEs specialising in restoration). The first of its kind (REACH) is designed to evaluate the economic and societal cost/benefit ratio of the introduction of standards to safeguard cultural heritage in urban environments. The present (1998-2002) With these four stages completed, the Fifth Framework Programme (1998-2002) is now under way. Cultural heritage features prominently in the key action The City of Tomorrow and Cultural Heritage. European research on targeted topics to improve the EU citizen's quality of life and addressing socio-economic issues is now being stepped up. Destined to develop further, works on cultural heritage are benefiting from research undertaken in the past decade or so. Such research has done more than merely pinpoint problems. It has been instrumental in establishing good practices in prevention, conservation or restoration, founded on scientific bases. A first in a series of European conferences on Research for the Protection of Cultural Heritage: "Opportunities for European Enterprises" was held in Rome in 1997, the second in Aachen in 1998, and the third will take place in Santiago de Compostela in September. This has consolidated networks set up within the scope of Community projects and helped boost the competitiveness of SMEs in the field. Although interest in this specific sector was initially limited to universities and research centres, the industrial world gradually became involved in projects which have now adopted an increasingly pan-European dimension. The coverage given by Europe to this work is not unrelated to a growing and more widespread interest in the subject. Since 1989, the Commission has organised numerous conferences and workshops to present the research done on the protection of cultural heritage. Several meetings have been held in specific locations, such as the seminar on the rescue of the Assisi Basilica and its frescos, organised in conjunction with the Italian Ministry of Culture. Some of these studies have been documented in an EC collection of scientific reports. One link between researchers, users and specialists has been promoted thanks to the publication of the "European Cultural Heritage Newsletter on Research". Similarly, groups of experts working on the same topics have been set up to anchor networks between researchers, leaders of European initiatives and national programmes, and cultural heritage managers.