LiU Electronic Press

The traditional conservation principle of minimal intervention is gaining new meaning, as we have come to realise that an artefact’s material and structural integrity interrelates and sometimes comes to conflict with possible evidence of significant historical and social memory content. As social memory is related to the experiences of individual members of the society, conservators must develop approaches of documentation and conservation methodologies in order to identify, document and eventually preserve the memory reflections of the epresented societies by preserving the artefact’s intangible content. It becomes apparent that in order to safeguard the artefacts’ social and historical integrity and contribute towards the perception, appreciation and understanding of the cultural heritage, the conservators have to preserve and document the artefact’s intangible content that reflects social memory.