Cultural heritage and science in Sweden

Riksantikvarieämbetet (RAÄ, The Swedish National Heritage Board) is Sweden’s administrative agency for cultural heritage. It aims to preserve and manage sites of historical, archaeological, and architectural significance. Drs. Elyse Canosa and Sara Norrehed are part of RAÄ’s Technology and Science Division within the Department for Conservation. This division focuses on heritage science, an interdisciplinary field that employs scientific research to better understand and preserve cultural heritage. During our visit to Uppsala University, we hope to connect with researchers and discuss possibilities for collaboration. This talk will highlight some of our current initiatives and future objectives as foundations for discussion.

The Technology and Science Division at RAÄ runs and maintains the Heritage Laboratory, located in Visby, which is a space for exploring scientific questions related to cultural heritage. Housing a range of stationary and transportable analytical equipment, the laboratory invites external museum and archive professionals, scientists, and archeologists to propose interesting questions about cultural heritage that can be investigated in collaboration with RAÄ. Recent projects involve investigating nanomaterials for consolidating canvas and other textiles, identifying pesticides that were previously used to preserve historic parchment, and characterizing dyed fibers in ancient Peruvian textiles. Our collaborators include Nationalmuseum, Riksarkivet, Chalmers University of Technology, Moderna Museet, and Stockholm University, among many others. Additionally, the Heritage Laboratory initiates its own research projects, hosts graduate students, provides material testing services, and produces publicly available literature for Swedish cultural heritage institutions.

In recent years, Riksantikvarieämbetet has developed a Swedish research network to connect people and institutions interested in the scientific study of cultural heritage. This network, called Heritage Science Sverige, plans to act as a partner within the European-wide heritage science infrastructure, E-RIHS. The mission of these organizations is to catalyze and support cultural heritage research through sharing technology, data, and expertise. In order to continue strengthening these growing networks, we intend to seek out and connect with laboratories, institutions, and individual researchers that are interested in learning how their skills and knowledge can be applied to cultural heritage studies.

For more information:
The Heritage Laboratory at RAÄ.
Report from the 2017 Heritage Science Sverige Workshop.
E-RIHS.