Conservation of dry-stone structures: a practical study on the Al-Makhrour’s watchtowers

Watchtowers, also called huts, manatir, qussur, ezab, araaiesh, siear, are architectural structures built of drystone without mortar overlooking the cultivated lands. They contribute to the ultimate formation of a unique cultural landscape evolved from the proper adaptation of land for agriculture using special systemisation, and to the inscription of the site named: ‘Palestine: Land of Olives and Vines, Cultural Landscape of Southern Jerusalem on the World Heritage List’ (WHL). The inappropriate state of conservation of the watchtowers, among other factors, resulted in causing the whole property to be on the UNESCO’s WHL in-danger since 2014 until the present. This research documented fifty watchtowers out of approximately 259 distributed over 13 square kilometres within the World Heritage Property (WHP). It also included a practical conservation project for twenty watchtowers selected upon a scientific multi-disciplinary approach after a field survey, literature review, assessment of previous conservation interventions, and direct observations based on the international related guidelines. The project succeeded in the conservation of twenty watchtowers and the revitalisation of the lands associated with them. The results of the project were investigated in terms of the commitment of conservation rules in particular: Documentation, Reversibility, Authenticity, Distinguishability, Adaptive reuse, Cultural Landscape, and Human Dimension.