Petroglyph Complexes of the Upper Indus in Northern Pakistan – Digital Annotation of Visual Cultural Heritage

Complex sites with concentrations of inscriptions and rock drawings (petroglyphs) in the Upper Indus region in northern Pakistan are threatened with inundation in a flood zone of Diamer-Basha dam. These invaluable cultural heritage resources comprising over 30,000 petroglyphs and approximately 4000 inscriptions abraded into the desert varnish on the surfaces of rocks at dozens of complexes are essential to understanding cross-cultural interactions along passageways through the Karakorum, Hindu Kush and western Himalaya mountain chains between South Asia and Central Asia. Irreplaceable records of local inhabitants, merchants, monks, and other itinerant communities require careful attention, all the more so because many sites are endangered not only by flooding, but also by human damage. We are using advances in methods of digital imaging including 3D scanning to point clouds, photogrammetry, and virtual panotours to preserve important evidence of written and visual cultures and to make this data accessible to various scholarly and non-scholarly communities in Canada and Pakistan. The objective of this internship is to apply advances in digital humanities to models of rocks with petroglyphs along the Upper Indus.

Faculty Supervisor:

Jason Neelis

Student:

Partner:

École Pratique des Hautes Études

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Education

University:

Wilfrid Laurier University

Program: