Site Conservation in Morocco: The Emergence of a Practice at Aghmat

Abstract

It is still uncommon for foreign and national archaeological excavations in Morocco to include architectural or site conservators during the excavation and post-excavation periods. The few existing examples of conservation have all been carried out long after the site or the building had been excavated. The site conservation activities during the Aghmat excavations in summer 2006 illustrate how the presence of archaeological conservators, advising the archaeological team and implementing urgent interventions, has ensured a safe excavation and has contributed to the preservation of the physical integrity of the excavated buildings. The excavation of the imposing archaeological features of the medieval bath of Aghmat provided the first opportunity in Moroccan archaeology for Moroccan archaeological conservators to be involved in condition assessment, planning, and provision of conservation activities to preserve the bath.

The primary aim of this paper is to present the site conservation experience in the Aghmat project, which is the first such project to be initiated during an excavation, and to be conducted mainly by a Moroccan team; it aims also to highlight the conservation procedures adopted and to incite discussion.