20th International Course on Stone Conservation – SC17
As the 20th International Stone Course (SC17) moves physically from Mexico City to Campeche Province in the south of the country, so it moves from the more theoretical phase towards the hands-on and implementational phase, which will characterize the second part of this training course.
In Mexico City, the participants benefited from presentations from a broad range of national and international professionals, as well as from the facilities offered by the Instituto Nacional Antropología e Historia (INAH) and the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM).
The training experiences in Mexico City varied from demonstrations in state-of-the-art analytical laboratories at the Laboratorio Nacional de Ciencias para la Investigación y Conservación del Patrimonio Cultural (LANCIC), hands-on lab sessions at INAH, site visits to the Museo Nacional de Antropología and Museo del Templo Mayor, to practical sessions in the cutting and carving of large blocks of stone.
As the participants regretfully leave behind their new home, and the rich experiences of life and study in such a vibrant metropolis, they are now preparing themselves for the totally different natural and cultural conditions posed by the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve and the Mayan temples. Here interactions between environment and cultural heritage poses further challenges, which will help them learn to address complex conservation issues with a multidisciplinary and integrated approach.