Endangered archaeology in Libya: recording damage and destruction

Rayne, Louise; Sheldrick, Nichole; Nikolaus, Julia

doi:10.1017/lis.2017.7

Cited by 19 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 31 publications

(47 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Of more than 700 sites assessed in four areas of Libya, over a third were determined to be in poor condition or worse (Rayne, Sheldrick, & Nikolaus, 2017). The largest proportion of these were identified around the Jufra and Murzuq oases, where the rate of urban and agricultural expansion has increased dramatically since 2011, following the break-down of the restrictive policies on property ownership that had been in place under the Qaddafi regime (Fitzgerald & Megerisi, 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Heritage Inventory for Documenting Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa

Sheldrick

Zerbini

2017

ISPRS Ann. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ABSTRACT:The heritage of the Middle East and North Africa is under growing threat from a variety of factors, including agricultural expansion, urban development, looting, and conflict. Recording and documenting this heritage is therefore a key priority to a id heritage practitioners tasked with protecting sites and evaluating their condition on the ground. The Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa (EAMENA) project has developed a methodology for the identification, documentation, analysis, and monitoring of sites across the region to aid heritage professionals in these efforts. The project uses remote sensing techniques along with traditional archaeological research and prospection methods to collect data, which are stored and managed in a customdesigned database adapted from open-source Arches v.3 software, using CIDOC CRM standards and controlled vocabularies. In addition to these activities, the EAMENA project has initiated an international conference series and training workshops to s upport and establish partnerships with heritage professionals and institutions across the region.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Heritage Inventory for Documenting Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa

Sheldrick

Zerbini

2017

ISPRS Ann. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Our image interpretation methodology, which primarily relies on Google Earth and Bing maps, feeds directly into user-friendly and standardised data entry, ultimately facilitating on-going and future recording of archaeology across the whole MENA region. In addition, the EAMENA project also undertakes detailed assessment and analysis of damage using high-resolution satellite and aerial data for selected areas [5,38]. By doing this, we are able to attain a greater understanding of the main types of damage affecting archaeology and identify the kinds of modern activities that most threaten archaeological sites.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Users record any potential features of archaeological interest recognised from these datasets by marking their location before setting up a database record. The parameters which describe the feature, including shape, arrangement, and morphology are then entered, as well as more complex interpretations dealing with form, function and date [38] (Figure 2). Imagery is first examined systematically by trained analysts and recorded using a system based on geographic longitude and latitude and quarter-degree grid squares (each covering roughly 20 km × 30 km).…”

Section: Datasets Used By Eamena For Identifying Sites and Mapping Chmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Users record any potential features of archaeological interest recognised from these datasets by marking their location before setting up a database record. The parameters which describe the feature, including shape, arrangement, and morphology are then entered, as well as more complex interpretations dealing with form, function and date [38] (Figure 2). One obvious weakness with the methodology described above is the limited time depth allowed by this approach; high resolution imagery available via Google Earth rarely pre-dates 2004, impacting our ability to interpret or identify sites disturbed or destroyed prior to this date.…”

Section: Datasets Used By Eamena For Identifying Sites and Mapping Chmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although automated detection of sites is not appropriate to our aims, at a coarser scale EAMENA is utilising semi-automated methods to explore the main threats posed by modern landuse [38]. Importantly these approaches need to be capable of mapping threats across large regions.…”

Section: Datasets Used By Eamena For Identifying Sites and Mapping Chmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

From Above and on the Ground: Geospatial Methods for Recording Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa

et al. 2017

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:The EAMENA (Endangered Archaeology of the Middle East and North Africa) project is a collaboration between the Universities of Leicester, Oxford and Durham; it is funded by the Arcadia Fund and the Cultural Protection Fund. This paper explores the development of the EAMENA methodology, and discusses some of the problems of working across such a broad region. We discuss two main case studies: the World Heritage site of Cyrene illustrates how the project can use satellite imagery (dating from the 1960s to 2017), in conjunction with published data to create a detailed set of database records for a single site and, in particular, highlights the impact of modern urban expansion across the region. Conversely, the Homs Cairns case study demonstrates how the EAMENA methodology also works at an extensive scale, and integrates image interpretation (using imagery dating from the 1960s to 2016), landuse mapping and field survey (2007)(2008)(2009)(2010) to record and analyse the condition of hundreds of features across a small study region. This study emphasises the impact of modern agricultural and land clearing activities. Ultimately, this paper assesses the effectiveness of the EAMENA approach, evaluating its potential success against projects using crowd-sourcing and automation for recording archaeological sites, and seeks to determine the most appropriate methods to use to document sites and assess disturbances and threats across such a vast and diverse area.

show abstract

The Cyrenaica Coastal Survey Project: Documenting Endangered Maritime Heritage in Libya

2022

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper introduces the Cyrenaica Coastal Survey (CCS), a collaborative project between the Maritime Endangered Archaeology project and the Department of Antiquities (DoA) Cyrenaica in partnership with the Universities of Al Bayda and Benghazi in Libya. Since the Arab Spring in 2011 and the subsequent civil unrest in Libya, heritage professionals, the DoA, and various individuals interested in heritage have struggled to safeguard heritage sites across the country, as policies and laws that protected archaeological sites were no longer reinforced and adhered to in the wake of the revolution. This lack of finances, capacity, and governmental support led to an unprecedented loss of archaeological sites since 2011. The CCS survey records the current condition of maritime sites along the Cyrenaican coast. The project focuses on the smaller, lesser known, coastal heritage sites that are not as well studied as the much larger classical period port towns of Apollonia, Tocra, or Ptolemais. This article will focus on the results of the first phase of the project between ancient Phycus (modern Zawiet el-Hamama) and Kainopolis (modern Al-Ogla). The results of the first stage of the Cyrenaica Coastal Survey provides a snapshot of the damages and threats that coastal heritage faces in Libya, most notably (often unregulated) building activities, clearance, sand mining, and coastal erosion. Furthermore, this article highlights the importance of remote collaboration between UK institutions, in-country partners, and heritage authorities, especially in countries where the discipline of maritime archaeology has been established more recently.

show abstract

Endangered archaeology in Libya: recording damage and destruction

Cited by 19 publications

References 31 publications

A Heritage Inventory for Documenting Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa

A Heritage Inventory for Documenting Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa

From Above and on the Ground: Geospatial Methods for Recording Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa

The Cyrenaica Coastal Survey Project: Documenting Endangered Maritime Heritage in Libya

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About