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Vasilka Dimitrovska – Wikimedia Macedonia

The new media – cultural heritage insomnia

With the global population increase, there is an accelerated change in the way our
planet looks and these changes “sometimes” can’t keep up with the modern development.
With this trend, there is an increase also in the desperate race of the archaeologists worldwide
to locate and document the cultural heritage before it is lost. Because, once a dozer goes over
a site, or a site is flooded or paved over, or cellular network transceiver stations are placed
over it, that site is forever lost to science. All of the information it had contained are lost and
irretrievably gone with its destruction.

On the morning of 06 September 2009, I received an E-mail from a reader that


something strange is happening on a site in the surroundings of the town of Demir Hisar, a
site which is known to the locals as Graishte, a name which is the same as the village in
which it is located. I posted a note on my website entitled: How the cellular network
operators are destroying the archaeological sites in the Republic of Macedonia in which
I have quoted the concerned citizen informing me of that site’s destruction. I have obtained
his permission that I can use all of the photographs and information which he has provided
me, under the condition that I should keep his name a secret. In order for me to locate the
site, I have used the services of Google Earth, and the data needed for the post were
borrowed from the available scientific papers published in the past.

Information about the site: Graishte, Gradishte dated from early to late antiquity. It
is situated on a high, cone-shaped hill with a leveled plateau and protected with three
fortifications originating from different time periods encompassing an area of 10 hectares.
According to the archaeological findings, the site was populated from early antiquity up to
the late middle ages. Scientific research suggests identification with the ancient town of
BRAYANION, found in the writings of Pliny the historian and the geographer Strabo.

In the afternoon of that same day, after the post was published online, I have received
two E-mails sent from one of the Macedonia’s cellular network operators which had a mildly
threatening content. Since this site is a known, valid and archaeologically documented site,
on the 08 of September 2009, I have undertaken field investigations using adequate
equipment and a crew comprised of six members. After the preformed investigations, I have
found the following:
The acropolis of the archaeological site Gradishte near the village of Gradishte,
municipality of Demir Hisar is in its two – thirds permanently destroyed while performing
excavations for the foundations of the antennae for cellular network base station installation.
The digging extends to 30 – 40 cm in depth, with occasional digging to 60 – 70 cm in depth
at the site’s center. Then, a 200 meters long and 1 meter deep trench was excavated for the
purpose of grounding of the lightning protection system. The dozer with which the digging
was done was still present at the site. Pieces of pottery and container fragments could be seen
all over the place. Also, parts of the fortifications were completely laid to waste.
I have made photo and video records. My first step was to inform the officials in
charge connected with the division for the protection of cultural heritage of the Republic of
Macedonia. Then, I have posted another article at my website containing the field report. The
response to all of this in the blogging community was luke-warm, and the mainstream media
were not at all interested in publishing any of this. In order for the information about the
destruction of the site to reach a wider audience, I have used my Facebook and Twitter
accounts where I have great number of followers. Then, I have tried to edit the video material

http://arheo.com.mk
e-mail: info@arheo.com.mk
Vasilka Dimitrovska – Wikimedia Macedonia

I had and made a short video report which I have posted in my


Youtube channel. The next day, I have started to be interviewed and the media
have played their part in preventing the further devastation of this precious archaeological
site.
On this occasion, I would like to extend my gratitude to the Kanal 5 television and the
reporter Goran Momirovski which due to the unavailability to send their own crew to the site,
since it was cordoned – off by the police, have contacted me with a request for a permission
for them to use the information present on my website and the recordings which I have made
and posted online. After one week of focused media attention, the official position of the
officials from the division for the protection of cultural heritage was that a court case has
been initiated against all of the three cellular operators because of destruction of the cultural
heritage of the Republic of Macedonia by performing construction works for which they did
not have any kind of valid permit from a relevant institution. Nevertheless, even after two
months since the incident, the outcome of this procedure is not known to the general public.
Immediately after the whole situation connected with the site of Gradishte quieted –
down, I was contacted by one of the three cellular operators operating in the Republic of
Macedonia with an offer for cooperation in any future construction projects they would be
making.
The reason why I am invited to talk to the E-society conference is precisely because
of my active civil participation in the protection of the cultural heritage via the usage and
application of the new media tools and the Internet.
I think that this is a new stage in the process of cultural heritage protection in the
world in general. Local cultural heritage enthusiasts are monitoring and using the internet are
reporting for any damage to the relevant sites. If the government institutions who are in
charge of the protection of the cultural heritage have made an omission as is the case of the
Gradishte site, the new media will always be here to serve as a reminder.
With each record about the cultural heritage originating from any point of the planet,
you are at the same time leaving a permanent record that that site exists. This is the easiest
way in which one person, one nation; one group of enthusiasts, one religion, one ethnicity or
one country can mark itself on the cultural map of the world, while at the same time creating
one enormous digital archive which can be a starting point for many studies. The New media
are the best notes, better than the best digitalization of the cultural heritage. That is the reason
they are so important.
In this way, except the material, we can also preserve the unique spiritual heritage and
allowing for a constant access for each interested party to study it. Simultaneously, a public
resource is created which is recognizable to everyone, the cultural heritage is always ‘in’,
especially since the work of the archaeologists is of social importance, because with the
results of the research sometimes regions are affected to which the results themselves do not
refer directly. Sharing of some of the information enables them to reach potential users faster,
and let those users to incorporate them in their research, or even surpass them.
Let us not fool ourselves. These high tech tools will never be able to replace the
traditional dig, exploration and all of the remaining analyses, but they can give many new
possibilities to the archaeologists with the help of which those traditional methods can be
improved.
Because of these reasons, protect the cultural heritage – write or blog about it. Blog in
multiple languages, which is especially important with regards of the language, nationality,
ethnicity, etc. Post your projects online make them accessible for all. The digital world is just
one of the possible ways which we can perceive the way towards our common identity. We
all have much to learn from our past, and hopefully to teach others.

http://arheo.com.mk
e-mail: info@arheo.com.mk

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