Social Values and Archaeological Heritage: An Ethnographic Study of the Daming Palace Archaeological Site (China)

Gao, Qian

Social Values and Archaeological Heritage: An Ethnographic Study of the Daming Palace Archaeological Site (China)

Gao, Qian

Authors

Dr Qian Gao qian.gao@durham.ac.uk
Assistant Professor

Abstract

In recent years, it is progressively believed that heritage itself does not have values, but rather values are assigned to places of heritage by people. The evolution of how heritage values should be considered has deeply influenced practices and policies of archaeological sites. Social value is now increasingly emphasized in legislation and guidelines for heritage management. In China, as with many countries, the development of tourism and the influence of UNESCO World Heritage nomination have remarkably changed the relationship between archaeological heritage and local communities. Therefore, they have also reshaped the social values ascribed to heritage by communal groups. Using the Daming Palace archaeological site as a case study, this article employs ethnographic approaches to scrutinize the impact of archaeological tourism and World Heritage designation on the social values attributed to the site by its local communities.

Citation

Gao, Q. (2016). Social Values and Archaeological Heritage: An Ethnographic Study of the Daming Palace Archaeological Site (China). Post Classical Archaeologies, 6, 213-234

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	2016
Deposit Date	Oct 13, 2021
Publicly Available Date	Oct 14, 2021
Journal	European Journal of Post-Classical Archaeologies
Print ISSN	2039-7895
Publisher	SAP Societá Archeologica
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	6
Pages	213-234
Publisher URL	http://www.postclassical.it/PCA_Vol.6.html