Oxford and Harvard team up to battle back against ISIS heritage destruction
by Tom Anstey | 03 Sep 2015
As ISIS continues to wage its war of hate across parts of the Middle East, destroying ancient relics and monuments as it goes, archeologists from the universities of Harvard and Oxford have teamed up with UNESCO to try and digitally preserve the region's historical architecture and artefacts.
Led by Oxford's Institute for Digital Archaeology (IDA) with contributions from the epigraphical database project at New York University’s Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, the Million Image Database Project will “flood” war-torn regions with thousands of 3D cameras used to scan and digitally preserve endangered sites.
The ambitious scheme is aiming to have captured one million archival-quality images in areas such as Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey, Iran and Yemen, by 2016. By 2017 the database hopes to have captured more than 20 million images, complete with GPS data and dates taken.
"We have created a heavily modified version of an inexpensive consumer 3D camera that will permit inexperienced users to capture archival-quality scans," said a representative of the collective. "The camera has the facility to upload these images automatically to database servers where they can be used for study or, if required, 3D replication. It is our intention to deploy up to 5000 of these low-cost 3D cameras in conflict zones throughout the world by the end of 2015."
Protecting heritage sites from damage and destruction poses a unique set of challenges. From ISIS destroying sites on a daily basis to natural disasters such as the recent Nepal earthquake, heritage is constantly in danger of being lost forever. In the Q2 2015 edition of Attractions Management, Elizabeth Lee, vice president of CyArk spoke about these challenges and her organisation’s efforts to scan and share detailed heritage site maps from around the world for public consumption. To read more, click here.
The collective wants to map ancient sites before ISIS destroys them
Many sites have become active warzones (Palmrya pictured here)
28 Apr 2015
Nepal earthquake destroys ancient monuments, killing hundreds of visitors
10 Mar 2015
Iraq calls for coalition air support to protect historical sites
03 Mar 2015
Looted Iraq museum responds to IS heritage attacks by reopening after 12-year closure
09 Dec 2014
UNESCO calls for 'cultural zones' to protect Syria and Iraq's heritage sites
08 Aug 2014
ISIS deliberately targeting and destroying Iraq’s cultural heritage
As ISIS continues to wage its war of hate across parts of the Middle East, destroying ancient relics and monuments as it goes, archeologists from the universities of Harvard and Oxford have teamed up with UNESCO to try and digitally preserve the region's historical architecture and artefacts. Led by Oxford's Institute for Digital Archaeology (IDA) with contributions from the epigraphical database project at New York University’s Institute for the Study
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