TOURIST PROFILEPRESENTATION OF PRAVETS ARHAEOLOGICALSITE
General view of Pravetslocation
- GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS ON THE TOURIST PRESENTATION OF THE SIGHT.
General view of Pravets location
A.1. VALUE OF THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE PRESENTATION RESOURCES.
Research of the material elements from the field
A.1.a. INVENTORY AND PLANNING OF THE PRESENTATION RESOURCES.
= for the capitalization to the benefit of thematic tourism of Pravets archaeological site it is extremely important to make a preliminary inventory of its resources, followed by the data planning and classifying them on topics of diversified interest:
=depositary of significant values of culture and civilization, Pravets archaeological site offers a usual multi- layer structure, with time-line from the most ancient times until the recent past;
=although the effective demonstration is still tributary to the long term scientific research within the area of the archaeological site, there can be assumed a pre-history for this, because the geographic position of the site, its connections on the horizontal and vertical of the area it occupies, its obvious strategic observation role and the well structured defensive character , recommend it to the use since the most ancient times;
=there is certain evidence of the location usage by the Thracians, at least to the purpose dedicated to the cult and its mysteries. According to the evidence identified in the field by the specialists, Pravets site was intended for a sanctuary whose relics have been lingering in the middle of the ruins until today;
= the Roman period in the Balkans invests Pravtes site with the important watch role over the Roman roads from the neighboring valley, the ancient fortification being integrated into a similar military construction chain , part of the huge Balkan defensive system , conceived against the Barbarian intrusion. Obviously, there are
Several more such fortification chains with defensive and protection role of the Roman roads, but Pravtes site remains as a model among the similar locations, by the rich inventory of constructions and artifacts in the region;
=The Middle-Ages are weakly represented on the site, but certified within the chain of fortresses to which it belongs, being thus logical the architectural usage (and even modification) of the site throughout the ages, according to the needs and vulnerability of the respective epoch;
=definitely, the site benefits from a long history, which can be presented to the thematic tourist in all its splendor.
Studying the constructions from the archaeological site
A.1.b. INVENTORY OF THE VULNERABILITIES GENERATED BY THE PRESENTATION RESOURCES.
Identifying the vulnerabilities from the site
=the very multitude of epochs comprised within the site, the definite probability of some natural or man induced modifications to its structure and architecture, can generate presentation difficulties and assessment ambivalences;
=the site has not been systematically researched from the archaeological point of view, hence the lot prominences of its ruins, difficult to relate to a common and especially precise image;
=there are missing important sections to identify the access routes (the Roman road, the North-West gate), there are also missing the base perimeters of the site (sections from the Northern defensive wall), and wide areas from the site are only presumed and covered in materials from the previous diggings (South –East gate);
=in other words, the archaeological site is in full exploitation and systematization of the already made works, there is plenty of free space for big scientific surprises which might alter the already established routes for its visiting;
=there have been lingering structures of vital importance yet undiscovered (water source- the cisterns for collecting pluvial water), it is temporary abandoned the identification of the North-West gate and its role, there are constructions without door (cellars) or parallel walls apparently without any purpose, counter-excavation debatable by their reduced dimensions, bricks in insufficient numbers and of an ambiguous quality for a certain assignation for their use, the lack of roof tiles and artifacts (pottery and coins) with a great risk of having been imported from other locations, without being able to define the site as such. These scientific difficulties make even more difficult the tourist profile presentation of a location instable as certainty and display;
=the access route to the site is represented by levels of different comfort, varying from paved road to trail, there are missing the guide marks and the associated warning of a historical monument, as well as other non-verbal communication elements with the tourists;
=Pravets site is a wild site, which can not be visited in the present, found in full archaeological exploitation, lacking the facilities, definite objectives and tourist warnings of any kind
A.1.c. PRESENTATION RESOURCES LENDING THEMSELVES TO VERBAL COMMUNICATION.
Assessment of the North-West area of the site
=at the assumed (Borovets History Museum) starting point (as “tourist waybills”) there is the possibility of a presentation within its precincts, by one of the museum specialists, as well as direct/phone contact of a guide for the trail to the site, in order to complete the non-verbal communications that can be met on way there and within the very site area.
There is the advantage of visualizing the artifacts saved from the site and scientifically classified, of presenting thematic films, replicas and reconstructions, of informing the unadvised tourist on the special historical value of the sight to be visited.
=the verbal presentation can be continued on the way to the site , emphasizing the special aspects of ethnography (exemplifications in determined locations, complementary to the main objective- the site ), of environment (the exceptional natural aspect of the valley bordered by wooded mountains) and of history (time-line), plus references to the geographical and historical context in which the site is placed, as well as data regarding its inherent and context value.
=the advantage of verbal communication is the possibility to modulate it according to the tourist’s disposition and focus, to promote the objectives of secondary interest covered on the trail, to establish an inter activity beneficial to the tourist and his need of information and mystery;
=having the experience of the trail, the guide can recommend adjustments/ halts to rest, sightseeing and recreation, can offer options to diversify the visit (secondary sights situated near the main trail) and can even recommend the justified extension/prolonging of it;
=at the site level, the guide can animate personalized work-shops, can react to the tourist’s questionnaire, as well as ensure the cognitive and physical comfort of the visitor protected as such;
=apart from the programming of tourist groups, made by accessing an especially designed site, the accessing of the guide can be made occasionally at Borovets museum or by direct phone call , distinctively applied complementary by non-verbal communication.
A.1.d. PRESENTATION RESOURCES LENDING THEMSELVES TO NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION.
Finger post of access to the site in the Bulgarian language (only!)
=primarily it is necessary to integrate the archaeological site from Pravets into a local tourist circuit and maybe – strategically speaking!- into a regional one at least, compensating thus the scarce amount of data provided by the by the site portfolio and the shortcomings of a fragmentary presentation;
=the starting point of the visit is placed at a distance of approximately 10 km from the site, logically established within Borovets history museum area, where one can identify the tourist’s interest in accessing the archaeological site , as well as his “fueling” with preliminary data which classify the archaeological site as tourist interest location.
=from the starting point, followed by the detachment point (junction)from the main road of the secondary paved road and the initiating point of the foot trail, begun from the secondary road climbing the wooded slope, it is possible to place static posts and maps , including synthetic information on the location targeted by the route;
=there are obviously! necessary minimal arrangements to this purpose, mainly subordinated to the natural environment conservation where the site is situated, an environment of an exquisite scenic beauty.
We consider the preservation of the foot trail as an additional background factor of the site.
=today’s total lack of facilities (rest areas, sanitations, dressing station, info-point, sightseeing areas) significantly reduces the tourist’s appetite of visiting Pravets archaeological site, fully justified by the absence of minimum tourist comfort.
=on the other hand, it is necessary to integrate the site visiting into similar locations from the military defensive chain to which it belongs (Chertigrad,Ostrom,Bozhenishki Urvich and even Kale/Elen Pelin) in order tot complete the real and 3d historical image from which the major tourist importance of the site derives.
=obviously, the fortification (among the described four) similar to the Pravets site selected for thoroughness and comparison, must benefit from the same facilities as the main site;
=at the proper site , it is compulsory designating an closed access circuit,
punctuated by elements significant for the tourist, local facilities and explanatory guide marks for each established interest point , including the protection of the areas still archaeologically active in exploitation.
A.1.d. GUIDE OF GOOD PRACTICES IN IDENTIFYING THE RESOURCES.
assessments of the interest points in the archaeological site
=identifying all the secondary and main sights lending themselves to be accessed by the thematic tourist (Borovets museum, ethnographic presentations, mountainous route to the site , the archaeological site as a whole, the natural area neighboring the site, historical similarities on the horizontal and vertical of the site, the valley protected by the fortifications or the fortifications from the defensive chain to which it belongs), such as integrating these objects in a diversified and attractive, with extending and thoroughness possibilities;
=the non/verbal presentations must be strictly selected , benefiting from qualification and communication abilities, completely dedicated to the tourist comfort and without altering the “purity” of the accessed environment (exterior rustic furniture, guide marks/maps with an adapted aspect, placement in the landscape);
=it is necessary a thorough documentation of each relevant information, pictorial assertion or selected material evidence, training the tourist in order to discover and enjoy it (the modern principle of “touch me!”= “taste me!”= “smell me!”), avoiding the monotony and repetition, of boredom and bad jokes;
=on one hand the visiting offer is fixed and situated within the checked information, on the other hand the tourist has the flexibility of his education and knowledge; from this potential conflict there can arise ambiguities, coming from the information input according to the necessities and permanent measurement of communication efficiency;
=the presentedvulnerabilities (still unclear data, assessments with unclear, debatable or waiting for thorough researches) must not be discovered by the tourist with disappointment, must be previously assumed by the guide as a fact, subject to the investigation dynamics of the site, with perspective on its elucidation;
=the time allotted for each sight individually varies according to its informative patrimony and is subordinated to the total amount of time allotted to the visit, thus preventing the superficiality of the visit or its prolonging beyond the tourist’s capacity of endurance /adaptation;
A.2. PRESENTATION STRUCTURE ACCORDING TO THE NEEDS OF THEMATIC/CONVENTIONAL TOURISM .
assessments at the “drain holes!”of the North-West defensive wall
A.2.a. QUALIFICATIONS NECESSARY TO A THEMATIC PRESENTATION.
recording some artifacts from the field in the presence of Borovets museum specialists
=editing non/verbal communicationsinvolves building a qualified team in the fields of history, inter human communication, and promotion and marketing of a sight.
Pravets site fully requires knowledge of ancient archaeology, architecture of patrimony/restoration, as well as the pedagogical ability to transmit the information, most of the times lacking the quality due to the insufficiency of the collected data until the present;
=the list of qualification contains historians, archaeologists, geologists, biologists, military experts/historians, cartographers and – especially – communication experts ; starting from the data base about the site and its surroundings/connections , there can be edited texts, images, films: flexible and conceived in a modular way, destined to express the portfolio values, the concealments of the material flaws and the establishment of an efficient management of the presentation;
=the designated guide is neither tributary to the preconceptions and scientific circumspections (defining the site as “a fortification of Roman type” is deeply disappointing by the simplicity of the statement!) and –certainly!- nor the exuberance without justification , causing ambiguities or suspicions;
=definitely there must be understood that Pravets site is “alive”, in the sense that there will always appear discoveries which can substantially modify the historical, architectural image and its time-line; editing non-verbal communication must take this risk into account, by achieving a flexible and modular concept, by which there can be replaced outdated texts/images with the latest up-dates, offering thus quality and freshness to the presentation;
=definitely, there must be understood that Pravets CANNOT be visited at the moment, at least in the conventional meaning of thematic tourism, severely lacking vital chapters (access route, facilities, signs and guiding marks, systematizing the site, protecting the areas in exploitation, identifying the already discovered areas, vertical/horizontal interconnection with similar locations or other tourist offers, such as harmonizing the objectives on the route);
Presenting such an objective is delicate, and could have compromised at any moment its tourist future by superficiality, ambiguity, monotony or lack of organization; hence the necessity of adapting the actual presentation to the real state of facts, but also its preventive assumption in front of the competent tourist, willing of comfort and show.
A.2.b. PRESENTING THE SITE RESOURCES.
Studying the geological elements from the North precints of the site
=by “site resources” we mean that al these unique/multiple material elements(altar/bricks) , isolated or part of ensembles (rocks/walls), constituted themselves in distinctive structures or complex buildings/ defensive systems), coming under the artifact category (pottery/ metallic objects/tools) and others, all of an attributed archaeological value, lending itself to a tourist presentation, as well as their proper/ contextual scientific interpretation;
=the list of site resources, that is the structure, comprises exquisite values , such as: “the gates” of the fortification (South-East and North-West), the surface of the Thracian sanctuary (in the site center), the defensive walls (South-West), external North-West wall (which presents a round! corner ), the “drain holes” from the defensive Western wall, the foundation lacking doors from the Western half of the North-West area, as well as locations where there have been found exquisite artifacts (coins, fragments of Greek pottery and provision clay jars);
=other accessible secondary sights within the site can be highlighted in the context of its value : general view over the valley, protected in the antiquity by the Roman fortress, but also the general view of the mountainous chains which constituted fortification points from the Roman defensive chains; the aspect of field adaptation to the designing and execution of the Roman fortification, by molding the structure according on the relief, the pragmatic usage of natural rocks, embedded into the walls, types of used materials and their periodicity , emphasizing the “limescale level” of the site , solving the level difference by optimizing the height of the defensive walls, types of
binder from the structure of inner/exterior walls, versions of the present vegetation, water sources, supplying, sewage, or using the wood in the structure of ancient constructions;
=we reiterate the necessity of listing the selected sights, their presentation, followed by functional interpretations , of context or speculative (balanced!), based on logics and scientific accuracy , but presented in accessible and attractive terms, with the support of non-verbal elements from each place subject to the presentation.
A.2.c. PRESENTATION OF THE RESOURCES SURROUNDING THE SITE OR SIMILAR TO IT.
Examining the defensive wall from the North-West of the fortification,subjacent to it
= Pravets archaeological site has also numerous presentation resources, exterior to the proper site, their systematizing and eligibility being a necessity of the inbuilt presentation of the site in thematic tourist profile;
=thus, the museum fromBorovets has a special role in familiarizing the tourist with the main objective (site) and the most reliable information source for him;