By Elizabeth McQuillan
Scotland has sent a rescue team to India. Not to rescue survivors from another natural disaster, but to save a historic site from natural decay.
An unlikely mix of heritage conservators (I'm thinking cord jackets with elbow patches) and digital design experts (hybrid arty digi-geeks in all-stars) are in Gujarat, in western India.
Their mission? To engage in a pioneering new project to digitally record the Rani Ki Vav stepwell – the Queen's Step Well. Dating from 1050, in pre-colonial times, this historic site has magnificent stepped terraces and around 400 sculptures of Hindu significance.
Using digital and laser technology, the plan is to record and create exact digital models of the site for the first time – a method that heralds a new approach to conserving and maintaining areas of historical significance.
"The Queen's Step Well clearly illustrates the sophistication and magnificence of India's culture," said Douglas Pritchard of the Digital Design Studio at the Glasgow School of Art, "and I hope that by working with the Archaeological Survey of India we will be able to assist in conserving this structure for future generations.
"Each site of the Scottish Ten project presents a completely unique challenge and an opportunity for us to record and promote sites of true international significance."
As part of Scottish Ten, New Lanark and Orkney have already been scanned and documented. St Kilda, Edinburgh's Old and New Towns and the Antonine Wall are next on the list.
The images created will be shared with the US not-for-profit organisation CyArk, founded by Ben Kacyra, inventor of the laser scanner. It is collecting data from 500 world heritage landmarks to hold in a global archive.
Scottish Ten has a Flickr photostream of the India expedition, and there is also a blog.
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