Thoughts on the socialisation of preventive archaeological conservation in Spain

Abstract

This paper proposes a reflection on the evolution of the concept of preventive conservation in archaeology and its social interaction (or socialization), from a reflexive and theoretical point of view. It is a manuscript that outlines the current role of Preventive Conservation Plans and how the participation of society in heritage management is addressed. Heritage is understood as a multi-temporal entity that transcends the materiality of the object and enables us to turn towards a preventive archaeological conservation that preserves current contexts and their stories, integrated into participatory or community archaeology. Through a series of questions, the reader will become an active player in questioning who conservation actions are targeted at, whether society or experts. Lastly, it will outline some proposals for promoting a preventive conservation that tackles, transforms and broadens its desired social dimension.