As argued by Matt Edgeworth, among many, the excavation is where archaeologist comes into direct physical contact with unfolding material evidence that has power to question and change ideas about the past and how we perceive it in present. As discipline, archaeology is in the heart of interplay between those two worlds, since it produces knowledge about the past with the authority that none other disciplines has. This multilayered relationship is inevitably closely connected to conservation practices that simultaneously shape and determine the final image of the past. Therefore, material remains, site structures and findings, through conservation activities, ought to justify and ‘fix’ applied concepts and models about what happened in distant time. But different disciplinary histories and configurations led to different understandings of relationship and role of archaeology and conservation, consequently diverse perceptions of presentation approaches and authenticity matter. Drawing on the wide range experiences of ethnography of archaeological and conservation practice, this paper describes how archaeological discovery is being articulated during the site investigation process. Specifically, this research aims to shed light on intertwined practices of archaeology and conservation and how they influence interpretation imagining on Neolithic site Drenovac in Serbia.
Natalija Ćosić (Central Institute for Conservation in Belgrade)
