OUR AIM

Incorporating social responsibility into archaeological work and cultural tourism has become a matter of course in many developing countries during the last decade. Not only is social sustainability integration preferable from a humanistic point of view, but it is also beneficial when it comes to the protection of the cultural heritage as it tends to decrease looting. It is generally assumed that the local communities’ economic gain, through sustainable cultural tourism and/or employments within archaeological projects, motivates local looters to protect the source of income (i.e. the archaeological sites) rather than exploiting them. It is also assumed that involvement of the local community in archaeological work increases interest and instils a sense of pride in the local cultural heritage. 

Posed question

The aim of the investigation is to evaluate the social and socioeconomic changes in small communities caused by archaeological and cultural heritage projects that seek to involve local members for a sustainable social and archaeological situation.

Through a contemporary study based on interviews and surveys, we pose the question “How do members of the local community experience that they are affected by the archaeological projects, socially and economically?”

We believe that our study will be an important contribution to the global discussion and continuous development of archaeological and socially sustainable preservation, as the aim is to highlight the positive and negative effects in the communities at study. No previous research projects with the same purpose have been carried out.

The investigation, financed by the Swedish foundation Helge Ax:son Johnsons Stiftelse, is independent of any organization. The study is based on personal interest and engagement by Alfsdotter and Åkesson.

Material and method

Domains of study

Peru, with its rich material cultural heritage and long-standing history of looting and exploitation, was, for natural reasons, one of the countries where social integration in archaeological projects was first attempted. In 1991 Professor Luis Jaime Castillo Butters at Pontifica Universidad Católica del Perù (now also vice cultural minister at Ministerio de Cultura) initiated local integration in the archaeological excavation at San José de Moro, a small community situated on the northern coast of Peru (http://sanjosedemoro.pucp.edu.pe/). Since 2001, the North American organization Sustainable Preservation Initiative (SPI, http://sustainablepreservation.org/) has been co-funding the social development project in the community that runs alongside the archaeological work. San Jose de Moro was the pilot project for SPI. The long history of local integration in San José de Moro makes it a perfect locale for our study, as it is quite unique with an archaeological social integration project that has been running for 20 years. Alongside San José de Moro, the investigation is carried out in Chotuna Chornacap in northern Peru, and Pachacamac located just south of Lima. SPI has recently started their involvement in these sites, therefore the information collected there will be an interesting antipode to the information collected in San José de Moro.

Target group and material collection

The material of study consists of qualitative interviews and quantitative questionnaires that are carried out among three different target groups: Locals directly involved with the archaeological project in question/cultural heritage tourism, locals who are indirectly involved with the archaeological project/cultural tourism (such as business owners etc.) and locals who are not at all involved with the archaeological project or cultural heritage tourism. All material collection is conducted in Spanish.