/ world today news/ For two decades now, the situation with science and culture has been continuously deteriorating, and this has serious consequences for our cultural heritage
Dear reader, I guess you are very fond of reading legends about legendary people and historical places. I assume that you have already seen the famous Indiana Jones movies many times or read about the adventures of the great Heinrich Schliemann and his discovery of the fabled Troy. Or you’ve heard of adventurer Hyrum Bingham discovering Machu Picchu in Peru… and so on.
Now let me tell you a story. A tale about
abdicated state
from the science of the ancient – archaeology. A country that humiliated the archaeological guild of the country and deprived its young specialists of the opportunity to work in their specialty, as well as abandoned the objects of its cultural and historical heritage in ruin and at the mercy of fate.
Once upon a time there was archaeology. This was a time when archaeologists worked in their specialty, discovered various wonderful things. Rulers and leaders patted them on the shoulder and were proud of them and what they had found. It is no secret that our land is very rich in cultural and historical sites and heritage, and if urgent measures are not taken, we will witness events that are extremely undesirable and negative for science in our country.
In the last nearly 20 years, dear reader, we have observed a worsening of the situation in the field of science and culture in our country, which unfortunately leads to extremely heavy damage to the cultural and historical heritage of the homeland.
The policy towards the preservation of the cultural heritage of Bulgaria, which is clearly conscious, worsened the funding of archaeological research and brought it to a miserable minimum. The funding of NAIM and museums in recent years has put them in a deplorable state, and the archaeologists who still work in these institutions,
they do wonders of bravery
to work and survive on their meager wages.
However, this is only part of the problems. Currently, the system of archaeological science in our country cannot practically accommodate 90 percent of those who have completed the master’s degree in archeology, because there is a lack of funds to hire them. It happens that a huge percentage of young people who have completed their higher education in archeology are unemployed or working outside their specialty. Of course, this is not accidental, but the result of a criminal policy on the part of the state.
In the 21st century, the leading role of NAIM should be preserved, because there are the best archaeologists in the country, and in my opinion, the Law on Cultural Heritage should also provide an opportunity under their control to master archaeologists who, through NGOs or other structures, strictly specialized in the field of archaeology, to work and develop. I say this because in Art. 150 of the law states that the right to field archeological research is granted to persons who have master’s degrees in archeology who have the necessary experience, a written recommendation from a qualified person and are in contractual relations with a Bulgarian cultural, scientific or university institution, the activity of which is related to the preservation of archaeological inheritance. In this text, the term “university institution” is clear, but in my opinion, the terms “Bulgarian cultural and scientific institution” are not. What is meant, which institution – state or NGO? This practically leads to chaos, because the risk of contracting
contracts with questionable organizations
whose functions may prove obscure, is large.
The practical removal of the leading role of the National Archaeological Institute with a museum at the BAS is something extremely counterproductive, and for NGOs there should be a special regulation in accordance with the Law on Non-Profit Legal Entities, but with the clarification that their scientific activity will be under the control of HIRE.
The law also specifies a required experience for the issuance of a permit for field archaeological research on our territory – 2.5 years, during which the corresponding archaeologist must have been the deputy head of archaeological research. The problem here is that very few young people actually have this internship because of the limited funding of archaeological research, which reduces the opportunity for archaeological research managers to take deputies. This is how it turns out that 90 percent of those who graduated with a master’s degree in archeology are practically ineligible. It is for this reason that it should be created
national archaeological internship program
which will provide these years.
The situation of both museums and universities before the democratic changes was little different, and their opportunities to invest in science and jobs were significant. Now this is impossible, because almost nothing is in state hands and the budget of the impoverished state does not allow providing the necessary funds for the development of science in Bulgaria. This, among other things, doomed many young specialists to emigrate from the country. It was the insufficient funding of universities in our country that provoked the graduates of the Faculty of History of the University of Veliko Tarnovo to publish an open letter dated March 8, 2016 on the Facebook page of the association “Friends and Alumni of the Faculty of History of VTU”, in which they comprehensively set out the financial problems, faced by the department.
With the new changes in the Law on Higher Education and the rating system, priority funding is introduced for such specialties in which the most graduates realize and work in their specialty. And for specialties where realization is lower, funding will be low or even zero. I have already mentioned the reasons why few of the graduates are realized in archeology and in reality the professional direction “History and Archaeology” is removed from the priority funded ones. This is a classic example of this hands-on killing I’m talking about. Therefore, a petition was organized on the Internet (www.peticiq.com) entitled “Addition to the List of Priority Professional Fields” with the aim of including the “History and Archeology” field in the priority fields. The petition was signed by our leading scientists from various universities. Otherwise, there is a real risk that archeology as a university specialty will be included in one
death spiral
from which there is practically no way out. There are such systems around the world, but they are mostly in countries where a good foundation for the development of science has been laid.
I say all this with pain and I strongly hope that urgent measures will be taken to solve these really serious problems. This will be possible when there is a serious debate between the state, the archaeological guild (archaeologists who work in institutes, museums and universities, as well as those who cannot go to work) about the state and future of archaeological science in our country.
The real dire state of the cultural and historical heritage in our country is also a result of these problems, because there is no way to carry out a quality restoration without the necessary archaeological research beforehand, without financial support for institutions such as the National Institute for Immovable Cultural Heritage and without providing the necessary expert staff to do their job.
Last but not least, they also play their role
the thin history textbooks
in which great personalities and historical facts are omitted. We must not forget that archaeological sites are still connected to history, and when this subject is almost unknown, as well as the respective eras, the preservation of the sites in question becomes a mission impossible. Things are connected, and when the circuit breaks, it becomes a really big short circuit.
There is another thing that I consider essential. It is about the so-called socialization of archaeological sites and their transformation into a popular tourist destination. In order for this to happen and for a site to be turned into an attractive tourist destination, it must first be studied by an archaeologist, then, based on the findings, the restorers must make the corresponding project and restore it based on it. And once that happens, the team of archaeologists and restorers should be joined by marketing and advertising specialists to develop an appropriate advertising and marketing strategy on which to promote and advertise it. Unfortunately, in our country it is obvious that this almost does not happen with marketing and advertising, and other things are also quite difficult, which makes the socialization and transformation of the objects into an attractive tourist destination, not a sham, rather complicated and difficult.
There are very rare examples of successful socialization of an archaeological site. One of them is the Small Basilica in Plovdiv and the “Trakart” museum, built on the foundations of the Roman house Eirene, which is something magnificent. If you have a day trip there, I highly recommend you visit them. Unfortunately, such examples are very rare, but they still exist.
All this presents the sad picture of the native archaeological tale. So I turned to you, dear reader, in the hope that you would consider whether all this should be allowed to happen. I don’t have the right to bind you with my opinion, but I think it’s a good topic to think about. Nice thinking.
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