Central Asian Archaeological Landscapes is by far the largest project undertaken by the IICAS.
Central Asian Archaeological Landscapes is by
far the largest project undertaken by the IICAS. For more than a year, 14 teams
from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have been working with
archives of national institutions and individuals in order to have them connected
to the Arches database. The expected outcome of the project is a highly detailed
map of the location of archaeological sites in Central Asia. Each of the sites
is to be linked to a set of available archival data, research data and findings
of archaeological expeditions, retrospective photographs and maps, space images
and much more. Such a map will be of use for scientists, archaeologists,
architects, historians, surveyors, climatologists, government agencies such as
inspections for the protection of monuments, cadastral services.
At the moment, approximately 5,000 of scanned archival
files containing hundreds of thousands of pages, present information about
3,000 archaeological sites. Inventory and digitisation of archives, carried out by the teams to
the highest standards, allows them, among other things, to preserve the paper-based
files stored in the archives of respective institutions. The teams identify the
geolocation of not only existing monuments, but also of those, which have not survived to
this day.
The project is scheduled to be completed in
2023, however, systems and algorithms being applied within the project will
make it possible to supplement the database in the future. The project is
funded by the Arcadia, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin,
and curated by University
College London.
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