Material and Immaterial Heritage

Heritage includes all the material remains of particular value (archaeological remains, cultural and artistic productions, buildings) and also a range of intangible productions (data, creations, oral traditions) and natural elements (soil archives, sedimentary sequences, seeds, landscapes, etc.). It is a constantly evolving social and historical construct that is currently threatened by land artificialisation, globalisation, climate risks, conflicts, obsolescence of storage formats, the deterioration of materials or deliberate acts of destruction.

The humanities and social sciences study heritage in its tangible dimension (the study of archaeological remains, artistic productions, cultural practices, oral or written language productions, the preservation of scientific or digital data, etc.). The HSS also highlight the processes of heritage development and the social issues underpinning them (the emotions and fears regarding the loss of heritage, the restitution of heritage objects and the development of a counter-hegemonic heritage) or the construction of legal tools for the protection of heritage nationally and internationally.

At the InSHS, tangible and intangible heritage is a core object of study for many InSHS units, several research groups (the Recyclages, Rift and Silex Research Networks, GDRs), major research infrastructures like Huma-Num) and consortia such as MASA or 3D SHS. It also involves major infrastructures the CNRS supports like Ipanema, New Aglaé and Synchrotron Soleil.

Research centers and networks