Some considerations on archaeological restoration between memory preservation and compatible enhancement

The recent interventions in some archaeological areas, which are not entirely acceptable, require theoretical, methodological and operational reflections. This is to clarify the relationship between the conservation of the historical memory of archaeological heritage assets and the valorisation that protection institutions and administrations implement to increase the touristic and functional use of monuments and ruins. Examples of this are the anastylosis in the archaeological area of the Imperial Forums in Rome and the functional adaptation of theaters and amphitheatres. These interventions clearly do not comply with the methodologies and methods to be applied in archaeological restoration despite the fact that a lively debate -started already in the past century- between academic scholars and experts has attempted to provide indications on the respect for the memorial value and on the needs of contemporaneity. The need for reflection derives from the observation that some issues, debated in those years, still appear unresolved. As a matter of fact, the aforementioned interventions undermine the founding principles of heritage protection as a system of laws and indications as well as conservation, achievable with constant maintenance operations, consolidations, restorations and valorisation actions.