Abstract

Heritage conservation is often seen as a predominantly technical enterprise, with decisions primarily made on the basis of facts rather than values. Significance and other object-centric values are recognised as having some impact, but such values are tied closely to the artefacts themselves. In this article we emphasise that this cannot be the whole story and argue that values from various domains outside the artefact–conservator relationship are also pertinent in the conservator’s decision-making. These may be societal, ethical, aesthetic, utilitarian, environmental, or some other subset of norms entirely. As such, we suggest that the profession must recognise the active, evaluative judgements that are being made by the conservator and ultimately it should offer support mechanisms that can help the conservator make better decisions. We end by highlighting some pathways that institutions may follow in order to ensure good decision-making when evaluative factors come into play, whether external or otherwise.

摘要

遗产保护通常被视为一项以技术为主的事业，其决策主要基于事实而非价值观。重要性和其他以对象为中心的价值被认为具有一定的影响，但这些价值与人工制品本身密切相关。在本文中，我们强调这不可能是全部，并认为来自人工制品-保护者关系之外的各个领域的价值也与保护者的决策相关。这些可能是社会的、伦理的、审美的、功利的、环境的，或者完全是其他一些规范的子集。因此，我们建议该行业必须认识到保护者正在做出的积极的评价性判断，并最终应提供支持机制来帮助保护者做出更好的决策。