Digital Mapping To Be Used To Preserve Ancient Sites Before ISIS Razes Them

Recently, the ISIS had destroyed the 2,000-year-old Temple of Baal in Palmyra. To preserve other ancient sites from destruction by the Islamic State, archaeologists are using digital mapping, according to The Telegraph.

Other ruins, such as the ancient city of Hatra, were bulldozed in March.

"The sites represent links between East and West," Institute for Digital Archaeology executive director Roger Michel said. "ISIS understands this and that's why they want to blot it out. Without the visual cues, the sites can be forgotten."

Hence, they are quickly using digital mapping to preserve important sites and artifacts.

So scientists from the Institute for Digital Archaeology, which is a joint venture between Harvard University and Oxford University, will employ cheap 3-D cameras and snap photographs of the sites before they get destroyed.

"The digital technology and optics that goes into these cameras is remarkably cheap," Alexy Karenowska from Oxford University said. "We are capitalizing on the exponential development of digital camera technology over the past few years."

The 3-D images will be collected in a database and can then reconstruct the areas, which would be able to identify artifacts that are sold in the black market.

There are 5,000 to 10,000 3-D cameras, some of which will be given by mail to local photographers, even as others are brought in by volunteers and are currently in the Middle East, according to hngn.

"If we can't protect these things on the ground, we can at least preserve a highly detailed record of what's there," Michel told BBC News.

"We're working a lot on the battery, since there will be limited access to electricity," Mr Michel says.

They have partnered with New York University's Institute for the Study of the Ancient World to store the 3D images.