Identifying and Evaluating Impacts - Mining and the Environment: From Ore to Metal - page 431

with an aspect(s) of human history (CEAA 1996). This interpretation can be applied to
a wide range of resources, including natural landscapes and landscape features, archaeo-
logical sites, structures, engineering works, artefacts, and associated records ( Table 9.8 ).
Frequently, cultural resources occur in complexes or assemblages, including movable
and immovable resources, resources that are above and below ground, on land and in
TABLE 9.8
Defi ning Places of Cultural Heritage Value - Cultural heritage sites are distinguished from other resources by virtue of the historic value placed on them
through their association with an aspect(s) of human history
Aboriginal Cultural Landscapes
An Aboriginal cultural landscape is a place valued by an Aboriginal group (or groups) because of their long and complex relationship with that land. It
expresses their unity with the natural and spiritual environment. It embodies their traditional knowledge of spirits, places, land uses, and ecology.
Archaeological Sites
National signifi cance can be based on one or more of the following aspects: (1) there is substantive evidence that the particular site is unique; (2) it
satisfactorily represents a particular culture, or a specifi c phase in the development of a particular cultural sequence; or (3) it is a typical and good example.
Parks of National Signifi cance
A park may be of national signifi cance because of (1) the excellence of its aesthetic qualities; (2) the unique or remarkable characteristics of style(s)
or type(s) which show an important period or periods in the history of the country or of its horticulture; (3) the unique or remarkable characteristics
refl ecting important ethno-cultural traditions which show an important period or periods in the country's history; (4) the importance of its infl uence over
time or of a given region of the country by virtue of its age, style, type, etc.; (5) the presence of horticultural specimens of exceptional rarity or value;
(6) its exceptional ecological interest or value; (7) its associations with events or individuals of national historic signifi cance; or (8) the importance of the
architect(s), designer(s), or horticulturalist(s) associated with it.
Historic Districts of National Signifi cance
Historic districts are geographically defi ned areas which create a special sense of time and place through buildings, structures, and open spaces modifi ed by
human use and which are united by past events and use and/or aesthetically, by architecture and plan.
Sites Associated with Persons of National Historic Signifi cance
The national signifi cance of an individual should be the key to designating places associated with him or her; the nominated sites must communicate that
signifi cance effectively. For a site to be designated for its association with a nationally signifi cant person, the nature of the association is important, and will
be one or a combination of the following: (1) The site is directly and importantly associated with the person's productive life, often best representing his
or her signifi cant national contribution. (2) The birthplace, childhood home, or the site associated with the person's formative or retirement years, which
should relate persuasively to the national signifi cance of the person. (3) The site that is attributed to be the source of the inspiration for the individual's life
work, which may require scholarly judgement of that relationship. (4) The site associated with a consequential event in the person's life and is demonstra-
bly related to his national signifi cance. (5) The site that has become a memorial (that is, that has symbolic or emotive associations with a nationally signifi -
cant person) and demonstrably shows the signifi cance of the person in the light of posterity.
Graves and Cemeteries
A cemetery (1) representing a nationally signifi cant trend in cemetery design; (2) containing a concentration of noteworthy mausoleums, monuments,
markers or horticultural specimens; (3) being an exceptional example of a landscape expressing a distinctive cultural tradition.
Historic Engineering Landmarks
To merit inclusion on the list of engineering landmarks, a site has to meet one or more of the following guidelines: (1) Embodies an outstanding engineering
achievement; (2) Is of intrinsically outstanding importance by virtue of its physical properties; (3) Is a signifi cant innovation or invention, or illustrates a
highly signifi cant technological advance; (4) Is a highly signifi cant country adoption or adaptation; (5) Is a highly challenging feat of construction; (6) Is the
largest of its kind, at the time of construction, where the scale alone constituted a major advance in engineering; (7) Has had a signifi cant impact on the
development of a major region in the country; (8) Has particularly important symbolic value as an engineering and/or technical achievement to the nation
or to a particular cultural community; (9) Is an excellent and early example, or a rare or unique surviving example, of a once-common type of engineering
work that played a signifi cant role in the history of national engineering; and/or (10) Is representative of a signifi cant class or type of engineering project,
where there is no extant exceptional site to consider for inclusion.
Source:
Based on CEAA (1996)