Artificial Intelligence for the Protection of Archaeological Heritage: Policy Gaps and Opportunities in European Union and UNESCO Frameworks

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its tools are starting to hold an undeniable place in our lives. Every day, new tools and software are being incorporated into various fields, with cultural heritage being one of them. In particular, archaeology is a unique case of AI applications as it is a traditional and delicate domain with numerous peculiarities. Hence, this thesis aims to explore the ways that cultural policies control the integration of AI into the domain of archaeology and suggest future directions for it. This research starts by building an extensive theoretical framework to reveal the interrelatedness between archaeology, AI, and cultural policies. Then the thesis employs qualitative content analysis to analyze 10 policy and industry documents released by the European Union and UNESCO. The documents were selected through purposive sampling and were coded thematically using Atlas.ti to identify trends and gaps related to AI governance and innovation in tangible and archaeological heritage management. The analysis was strengthened by the mini case study of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii to ground the findings in a real-world context through discussing the AI applications there from the same analytical lenses. This investigation reveals that even though AI is recognized as a transformative tool in heritage conservation due to its benefits, such as public engagement and conservation, there is a significant sector- specific policy gap regarding AI utilization in archaeological heritage. Policies emphasize the significance of digitization, ethics, free access, and equality; however, they remain too broad and fragmented and more suggestive than enforceable. Pompeii, while showcasing the advantages of AI, also highlights the absence of interoperability standards and shared ethical guidelines. This results in a need for horizontal and comprehensive archeology-specific cultural policies to primarily close the existing policy gap and ensure equal conditions for the digital transformation of cultural institutions. This thesis adds to the intricacies of cultural policy by providing more dynamics and dilemmas to be managed to ensure the success and sustainability of both AI and archaeological heritage. The ultimate goal of this thesis is to serve as a foundational tool to interpret the current landscape and a charter for its future by making AI's benefits and challenges in archaeology explicitÇ