Surveying the Cultural Heritage of the Swedish Countryside - Success and Failure during the Twentieth Century

Abstract

The surveys of the cultural heritage of the Swedish countryside have been carried out in accordance with different laws. This has led to a great specialisation of certain aspects of the cultural heritage, and the evaluation of them has always been a task for specialists. The same specialisation often has characterised the scientific research on ancient monuments, nature, etc. In general an enormous amount of knowledge has been gained, but the historic understanding of why the remains exist at all has never been given as much attention as their physical appearance. This has caused a major separation between the cultural heritage management and the nature conservation.