PRESERVING OUR IN-SITU ARCHAEOLOGICAL HERITAGE - A CHALLENGE TO THE GEOCHEMICAL ENGINEER

Empirical evidence has shown that industrialization and changes in agr icultural practices have caused worldwide dramatic changes in the buri al conditions of the archaeological remains. The current understanding of the problem, however, is not sufficiently advanced, which hinders adequate measures to prevent a tremendous loss of archaeological infor mation. In the beginning of the nineties, research programmes were sta rted to gain insight into the deterioration of different kinds of orga nic and inorganic components, representing a great variety of archaeom aterials. Knowledge of the present-day preservation condition of the r emains will create the scientific basis for an environmental risk asse ssment of archaeological sites. It also will be the basis for developi ng strategies fcr the monitoring of a well-defined number of endangere d sites. Such a monitoring system particularly is needed at places whe re geotechnical measures, like the local up-levelling of the soil and the creation of an artificially high ground water table, have been car ried out to protect the archaeological heritage. (C) 1998 Elsevier Sci ence B.V. All rights reserved.