Municipal Heritage Service

Municipal Heritage Service.

From 2004, Orxeta, in the face of the necessity generated by the rapid increase in urban development over the last few years, has had a local "Servicio Municipal de Arqueología y Patrimonio Cultural" (the Municipal Service of Archaeology and Cultural Heritage).

It is true that the Valencian Cultural Heritage Law 4/98 states that "the Regional Government will establish the means of inspection and vigilance of the Cultural Heritage" (article 14 LPHV), but in practice the lack of personnel and administration resources has demonstrated that it is necessary to create local administrative departments which would assume this role in the municipal areas. These will provide a more efficient service, especially in those municipal areas which contain outstanding problematic archaeological or other types of heritage. They would, of course, always be under the control of the Regional Council of Culture.

This Municipal Service is actually defined under the same law, although it only relates to archaeological and palaeontological heritage; "the Municipal Services of Archaeology and Palaeontology are municipal departments or institutions, with professional archaeologists and palaeontologists, in charge of carrying out and the technical supervision of archaeological and palaeontological interventions which take place in the municipal areas" (article 58.6 LPHV).

In reference to the archaeological heritage of Orxeta, the first step in its management was carried out in 2003 with the completion of its "Carta Arqueológica Municipal" (Municipal Archaeological Record) to be included in the Catalogue of Protected Sites and Areas. The main objective of this was to reunite, in the same document, all the historical-archaeological information that exists, relating to the municipal area with the defining of the various areas which contain archaeological remains or are likely to contain them. These should then be subjected to a specific plan of protection according to their archaeological importance and/or scientific interest.

In 2004, once the Catalogue of Protected Sites and Areas had been provisionally approved, the Municipal Service of Archaeology and Heritage was set up with the aim of supervising all the archaeological work in the municipal area as well as having many other roles associated with the protection, conservation, investigation and diffusion of the archaeological heritage.

Furthermore, under the direction of this service, the supervision of a number of archaeological rescue excavations was carried out, with excellent results due to the fact that these interventions were carried out in previously catalogued areas, prior to the start of the urban development projects.

To conclude, and in line with the principles of the Valencian Cultural Heritage Law 4/1998, we are convinced that the protection and conservation of the cultural heritage cannot simply be achieved by the putting into place of a number of preventative, prohibitive and penalizing measures, by the local governments and public powers at be. The collaboration of society, through education, information, diffusion and campaigns of awareness is the cornerstone essential for the safeguarding of this heritage which constitutes "one of the principle characteristics of the identity of the Valencian people".