Can We Rebuild the Kasthamandap? Promoting Post-Disaster Rescue Excavations, Salvage and Subsurface Heritage Protection Protocols in Kathmandu
Lead Research Organisation:
Durham University
Department Name: Archaeology
Abstract
The earthquakes which struck Nepal in 2015 caused a human catastrophe. Not only did they inflict loss of life and livelihoods, they destroyed substantial parts of Kathmandu's unique UNESCO World Heritage site. The monuments of the city were not only ornate structures but were living monuments playing central roles in the daily lives of thousands of Nepalis. Furthermore, their rehabilitation is of economic importance as they represent a major source of foreign currency and employment through tourism. Indeed, the Government of Nepal's 'Cultural Heritage Post-Disaster Needs Assessment 2015' (PDNA) estimates that losses relating to damage and livelihoods amount to over US$23 million.
Whilst there is a strong political, social and economic desire to reconstruct rapidly, it is critical that post-disaster rescue archaeology is combined with reconstruction. Indeed, plans to reconstruct temples on existing ruined platforms must first be preceded by a phase of rescue excavations to evaluate the subsurface stability of foundations with detailed recording and scientific analysis as few architectural studies have considered them. These will provide a greater understanding of how monuments developed and facilitate their enhanced rehabilitation and future protection. There is also an imperative for information and data sharing and capacity building as damage has already been inflicted on monuments within the UNESCO World Heritage site during the post-disaster pre-reconstruction phase led by architects and engineers unaware of the heritage beneath their feet.
Indeed, having discussed challenges and opportunities with stakeholders in Kathmandu, it is clear that the current focus on the rehabilitation of architectural superstructures has resulted in additional damage to Kathmandu's World Heritage site. This has largely gone unnoticed as it entailed damage to subsurface archaeological heritage, even though this heritage is protected by national legislation. Emergency interventions badly damaged some buildings but, whilst they were driven by recovering the injured and dead, more recent damage relates to non-emergency activities, including engineering contractors cutting exploratory trenches and drilling soil cores, workmen cutting foundations, soldiers deliberately collapsing monuments and engineers dismantling others. All of these events had a common absence of in-situ archaeological recording and the absence of consultation with trained professional archaeologists beforehand.
This absence is paralleled in the PDNA 2015, which fails to note the risk to the vulnerable subsurface archaeological heritage from rehabilitation and reconstruction activities. More recent documents, such as the draft 'Conservation Guidelines for Post 2015 Earthquake Rehabilitation: Conservation Guidelines' (CGPERCG2015) recognise this risk but need strengthening. It is worth noting that this situation is common across South Asia and there is a capacity deficit in urban and rescue archaeology, despite being located in a region whose built heritage is prone to risks from both seismic events and rapid urbanisation.
Following requests from the Government of Nepal and ICOMOS (Nepal) and responding to AHRC's FoF 'Notice for International Development', our aim is to build on the success of the 'Outstanding' graded AHRC-funded research in Sri Lanka to conduct a practical field training workshop with non-academic collaborators to focus on learning from the evaluation of the foundations of the collapsed Kasthamandap in Kathmandu and as well as on salvaging material to assist post-earthquake plans for its reconstruction and to offer an exemplar for strengthening and disseminating post-disaster subsurface heritage protocols within post-earthquake Kathmandu.
Whilst there is a strong political, social and economic desire to reconstruct rapidly, it is critical that post-disaster rescue archaeology is combined with reconstruction. Indeed, plans to reconstruct temples on existing ruined platforms must first be preceded by a phase of rescue excavations to evaluate the subsurface stability of foundations with detailed recording and scientific analysis as few architectural studies have considered them. These will provide a greater understanding of how monuments developed and facilitate their enhanced rehabilitation and future protection. There is also an imperative for information and data sharing and capacity building as damage has already been inflicted on monuments within the UNESCO World Heritage site during the post-disaster pre-reconstruction phase led by architects and engineers unaware of the heritage beneath their feet.
Indeed, having discussed challenges and opportunities with stakeholders in Kathmandu, it is clear that the current focus on the rehabilitation of architectural superstructures has resulted in additional damage to Kathmandu's World Heritage site. This has largely gone unnoticed as it entailed damage to subsurface archaeological heritage, even though this heritage is protected by national legislation. Emergency interventions badly damaged some buildings but, whilst they were driven by recovering the injured and dead, more recent damage relates to non-emergency activities, including engineering contractors cutting exploratory trenches and drilling soil cores, workmen cutting foundations, soldiers deliberately collapsing monuments and engineers dismantling others. All of these events had a common absence of in-situ archaeological recording and the absence of consultation with trained professional archaeologists beforehand.
This absence is paralleled in the PDNA 2015, which fails to note the risk to the vulnerable subsurface archaeological heritage from rehabilitation and reconstruction activities. More recent documents, such as the draft 'Conservation Guidelines for Post 2015 Earthquake Rehabilitation: Conservation Guidelines' (CGPERCG2015) recognise this risk but need strengthening. It is worth noting that this situation is common across South Asia and there is a capacity deficit in urban and rescue archaeology, despite being located in a region whose built heritage is prone to risks from both seismic events and rapid urbanisation.
Following requests from the Government of Nepal and ICOMOS (Nepal) and responding to AHRC's FoF 'Notice for International Development', our aim is to build on the success of the 'Outstanding' graded AHRC-funded research in Sri Lanka to conduct a practical field training workshop with non-academic collaborators to focus on learning from the evaluation of the foundations of the collapsed Kasthamandap in Kathmandu and as well as on salvaging material to assist post-earthquake plans for its reconstruction and to offer an exemplar for strengthening and disseminating post-disaster subsurface heritage protocols within post-earthquake Kathmandu.
Planned Impact
Following requests from the Government of Nepal and ICOMOS (Nepal) and responding to AHRC's FoF 'Notice for International Development', our aim is to build on the success of 'Outstanding' graded AHRC-funded research in Sri Lanka to conduct a Practical Field Training Workshop with non-academic collaborators to focus on the evaluation of the foundations of the collapsed Kasthamandap in Kathmandu and as well as on salvaging material to assist post-earthquake plans for its reconstruction. We will deliver impact by disseminating it as an exemplar for strengthening and disseminating post-disaster subsurface heritage protection protocols within post-earthquake Kathmandu.
Our first impact activity involves assembling a post-disaster team of 30 Nepali archaeologists, architects, engineers, Sanskritists, soil scientists, civil servants, heritage and disaster managers for a 14-day Kathmandu-based Practical Field Training Workshop in the ruins of the collapsed Kasthamandap to establish methodologies for the recording and evaluation of collapsed heritage sites and the salvaging of materials within post-disaster urban contexts and to assist post-earthquake reconstruction plans in December 2016. This activity will accompany a rescue excavation led by the Government of Nepal's Department of Archaeology and represents the first time that such a diverse group from NGO and GO have been trained together, allowing those from different disciplines to learn about each others approaches as well as collectively recognise the risk to Kathmandu's subsurface heritage during reconstruction.
Our second focus is on disseminating the information and recommendations arising from the Practical Field Training Workshop, as well as those from the earlier October 2015 UNESCO Post-Disaster mission, more broadly within Kathmandu. As we have limited participant numbers on our Kathmandu Practical Field Training Workshop based on ratios to trainers, we will raise broader awareness of post-disaster monument evaluation, salvaging methodologies and post-disaster subsurface heritage protection protocols through a Kathmandu-focused Dissemination Workshop and Exhibition. The Workshop will be held over two days in a hotel hall with a capacity of 300 individuals and invitations sent out to relevant GOs, NGOs, INGOs and IGOs. The Exhibition will be hosted at the Kasthamandap at the same time as a method of focusing attention on its reconstruction as well as further engaging with residents and stakeholder groups.
The third element of this Kathmandu-focused dissemination is the publication of an illustrated article in the popular Kathmandu art, architecture and interior magazine Spaces, which is read by many engineers and architects. We have previously published with this colour magazine (www.spacesnepal.com) and have an invitation for additional contributions. We will also publish four post-disaster protocol and practice papers in a special number of Ancient Nepal, the journal of the Government of Nepal's Department of Archaeology. Again, this is printed in Nepal and only costs 50 Nepali Rupees (£0.31) and is widely read by historians and architects.
The fourth strand of impact will be the broader dissemination protocols and methdologies to other dense urban post-disaster contexts as subsurface cultural heritage is frequently overlooked. This will include a paper in the Journal of Cultural Heritage Management but will be mainly through digital outputs, including a webinar and associated Field Laboratory Handbook, webpages, exhibition and online gallery. These outputs will be sustained beyond the lifetime of the project by being hosted on Durham's UNESCO Chair website and the broader protocols will be disseminated amongst the members of the UNESCO Chair & UNITWIN Culture Network which was initiated in December 2015 and of which Coningham is a member as well as to ICOMOS by Weise, who is President of ICOMOS (Nepal).
Our first impact activity involves assembling a post-disaster team of 30 Nepali archaeologists, architects, engineers, Sanskritists, soil scientists, civil servants, heritage and disaster managers for a 14-day Kathmandu-based Practical Field Training Workshop in the ruins of the collapsed Kasthamandap to establish methodologies for the recording and evaluation of collapsed heritage sites and the salvaging of materials within post-disaster urban contexts and to assist post-earthquake reconstruction plans in December 2016. This activity will accompany a rescue excavation led by the Government of Nepal's Department of Archaeology and represents the first time that such a diverse group from NGO and GO have been trained together, allowing those from different disciplines to learn about each others approaches as well as collectively recognise the risk to Kathmandu's subsurface heritage during reconstruction.
Our second focus is on disseminating the information and recommendations arising from the Practical Field Training Workshop, as well as those from the earlier October 2015 UNESCO Post-Disaster mission, more broadly within Kathmandu. As we have limited participant numbers on our Kathmandu Practical Field Training Workshop based on ratios to trainers, we will raise broader awareness of post-disaster monument evaluation, salvaging methodologies and post-disaster subsurface heritage protection protocols through a Kathmandu-focused Dissemination Workshop and Exhibition. The Workshop will be held over two days in a hotel hall with a capacity of 300 individuals and invitations sent out to relevant GOs, NGOs, INGOs and IGOs. The Exhibition will be hosted at the Kasthamandap at the same time as a method of focusing attention on its reconstruction as well as further engaging with residents and stakeholder groups.
The third element of this Kathmandu-focused dissemination is the publication of an illustrated article in the popular Kathmandu art, architecture and interior magazine Spaces, which is read by many engineers and architects. We have previously published with this colour magazine (www.spacesnepal.com) and have an invitation for additional contributions. We will also publish four post-disaster protocol and practice papers in a special number of Ancient Nepal, the journal of the Government of Nepal's Department of Archaeology. Again, this is printed in Nepal and only costs 50 Nepali Rupees (£0.31) and is widely read by historians and architects.
The fourth strand of impact will be the broader dissemination protocols and methdologies to other dense urban post-disaster contexts as subsurface cultural heritage is frequently overlooked. This will include a paper in the Journal of Cultural Heritage Management but will be mainly through digital outputs, including a webinar and associated Field Laboratory Handbook, webpages, exhibition and online gallery. These outputs will be sustained beyond the lifetime of the project by being hosted on Durham's UNESCO Chair website and the broader protocols will be disseminated amongst the members of the UNESCO Chair & UNITWIN Culture Network which was initiated in December 2015 and of which Coningham is a member as well as to ICOMOS by Weise, who is President of ICOMOS (Nepal).
Publications
Coningham R
(2018)
Evolving Narratives of Hazard and Risk
Coningham R
(2019)
Philosophical Perspectives on Ruins, Monuments, and Memorials
Coningham RAE
(2018)
Evolving Narratives of Hazard and Risk: The Gorkha Earthquake, Nepal, 2015
Coningham RAE
(2017)
Below the surface in Bhaktapur
in Spaces
Coningham, R.A.E.
(2019)
Reducing Disaster Risk to Life and Livelihoods by Evaluating the Seismic Safety of Kathmandu's Historic Urban Infrastructure: enabling an interdisciplinary pilot.
in Journal of the British Academy
Davis C
(2019)
Identifying archaeological evidence of past earthquakes in a contemporary disaster scenario: case studies of damage, resilience and risk reduction from the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake and past seismic events within the Kathmandu Valley UNESCO World Heritage Property (Nepal)
in Journal of Seismology
Davis C
(2018)
Pilgrimage and procession: temporary gatherings and journeys between the tangible and intangible through the archaeology of South Asia
in World Archaeology
Kumar A
(2020)
Experimental, numerical and field study investigating a heritage structure collapse after the 2015 Gorkha earthquake
in Natural Hazards
| Title | Post-Disaster Archaeological Investigations in the Kathmandu Valley UNESCO World Heritage Property |
| Description | We co-designed and launched an exhibition in Kathmandu highlighting our post-earthquake archaeological mission to Kathmandu and the need for post-disaster archaeological interventions to prevent the unintended destruction of subsurface heritage. It was designed as a temporary travelling bilingual photographic exhibition visiting the UNESCO World Heritage Monument Zones of Pashupati, Patan, Bhaktapur, and Hanumandhoka in the Kathmandu Valley between the 4th and 7th September 2017. The exhibitions was co-sponsored by AHRC in collaboration with the Department of Archaeology (Government of Nepal), ICOMOS (Nepal) and UNESCO (Kathmandu). |
| Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Impact | Despite being open for only four days at each site, the travelling exhibition was visited by 8,079 people, of whom 62.42% were Nepali. This comprised 4,049 visitors to Pashupati, 1,756 to Patan, 1,634 to Bhaktapur and 640 to Hanumandhoka - with 472 individuals completing questionnaires. The impact of our exhibition was clear as only 49% of those who completed questionnaires had been 'very aware' of the current threat to Kathmandu's subsurface heritage before attending the exhibition and 81% found the exhibition of an excellent/very good/good quality. |
| Title | Resilience in the Rubble: Reconstructing the Kasthamandap and its past after the 2015 Nepal Earthquake |
| Description | The 2015 earthquake that struck Nepal, not only caused human devastation, but was also a cultural catastrophe. It damaged and destroyed much of Nepal's unique cultural heritage, including monuments within the UNESCO Kathmandu Valley World Heritage Site. In 2015 a Durham University led team, in partnership with UNESCO and the Department of Archaeology, Government of Nepal, undertook a season of post-disaster archaeological assessment of earthquake damaged monuments within the UNESCO World Heritage Site, including the nationally important and symbolic Kasthamandap. They returned to complete their work on the site in November and December 2016 with the support of the National Geographic Society and a grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council's Global Challenges Research Fund. This photographic exhibition told the story of the Kasthamandap, from its origins to its collapse to its renewal. Illustrated through archive photographic collections and the personal testimonies and photographs of first responders and Nepali heritage professionals, it will be interwoven with photographs of recent discoveries made during excavation by the Durham-led team. |
| Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Impact | The bilingual exhibition, Resilience in the Rubble, was displayed in Durham's Oriental Museum between 29th September 2017 and 28th January 2018. The exhibition recorded 12,850 visitors, of which 44% of the 88 who completed questionnaires had specifically visited the museum to see the exhibition. Only 26% of those who completed questionnaires had been 'very aware' of the current threat to Kathmandu's subsurface heritage before attending the exhibition and 88.64% found the exhibition of an 'excellent/very good/good' quality. The Chair is now in discussions the expansion and transfer of the exhibition back to Kathmandu as the inaugural exhibition in the new earthquake museum in Hanumandhoka in Kathmandu, with a planned launch to coincide with the event of the April 2015 Gorkha Earthquake. |
| URL | https://www.dur.ac.uk/cech/unescochair/research/kathmandu/resilience/ |
| Description | Our pilot UNESCO Mission in 2015 identified that the foundations of the Kasthamandap dated to c.700 CE and exhibited no indications of seismic damage from the 2015 or prior earthquakes. During this fieldwork, we also noted that the northeast saddlestone, which would have held one of the four monumental timbers supporting the superstructure, was missing. Seemingly located below a modern conserved tiled surface, the AHRC-funded season allowed us to investigate whether the northeast saddlestone had been removed in the past, or was located below the floor surface. The removal of the tile revealed the saddlestone below. On the surface of the saddlestone we identified a copper plate, utilised as a damp coursing and within the socket we recovered the corroded remains of a copper shoe around a fragment of degraded timber. The presence of the copper shoe, with wood tenon preserved inside, suggests that the pillar's tenon had already severely deteriorated and that individual tiles had been pushed under it during its 1960s restoration rather than dismantling the entire monument. A program of dating the timber superstructure of the monument, including the large timbers and the material within the copper shoe, combined with OSL dating of soil sediments, will now provide evidence for the cyclical renewal of the monument, providing evidence for how monuments, such as the Kasthamandap, in the Kathmandu Valley have been repaired, renewed and renovated since their initial constructions, possibly in relation to earthquake damage. Our excavations have also revealed the presence of a symbolic layout to the structure of the foundations. This included a nine-cell mandala created through the use of cross-walls, which were one brick thick, running from the interior of the main foundations, towards the four freestanding brick piers which held the four central saddlestones. Whilst the northeast saddlestone and the nine-celled mandala were identified, it was still important to ascertain whether the northeast saddlestone rested on an intact brick pier. Deep excavations revealed that the brick pier was not damaged or distorted by seismic damage. Furthermore, we identified further cross-walls at a lower depth. This discovery demonstrated that within the central cell, below the sanctum of the Kasthamandap, was a further nine-celled mandala. In combination with the larger mandala and the discovery of gold foil mandalas within each of the sockets of the large four central saddelstones, this allow us to assume that the Kasthamandap was not only built with seismic resilience in mind, but also cosmological and symbolic value from its creation and during renovations. Our research has also provided the first scientific dating for the Kasthamandap, whose provenance has varied between the fourteenth and twelfth centuries CE on account of its architectural style. The new chronological framework indicates that the foundations of the monument were first constructed in 700 CE, over 400 years earlier than previously thought. Furthermore, the Kasthamandap was subject to a major campaign of remodelling with the introduction of the cross-walls, forming the mandala pattern, within 200 years, and its four main timber pillars installed at that time.. |
| Exploitation Route | The reports and recommendations from the Project have been submitted to the Department of Archaeology, Government of Nepal (DoA) for their information and action. The methodologies have already been used by the DoA to conduct their own post-disaster rescue excavation prior to a major engineering intervention at the Basantapur Palace in Hanuman Dhoka. The reports and recommendations are also being taken forward by the expert panel tasked with the reconstruction of the Kasthamandap and they have already rejected a potentially highly damaging placing of new intrusive foundations for the reconstruction. We have also offered post-disaster rescue clearing training to members of the Nepal Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force in order to better react to such events in the furture. We have now successfuly transferred this methodology to the post-conflict environment of Jaffna Fort in northern Sri Lanka. The research has now contributed to the rebuiliding of the Kasthamandap. |
| Sectors | Construction,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| URL | https://www.dur.ac.uk/cech/unescochair/research/kathmandu/ |
| Description | The findings and recommendations from our work (Coningham et al. 2016) are now filtering into Government policy through the Department of Archaeology, Government of Nepal, (DoA), who are now blocking and mitigating a number of destructive interventions relating to reconstruction and renovation. These include the halting of the rebuilding of the Kasthamandap by the Kathmandu Municipality with new intrusive foundations and the agreement by the Chinese Government to deploy DoA archaeologists to cut and record exploratory trenches as part of the Basantapur Palace rehabilitation rather than engineers (Kunwar and Gyawali 2016). Our findings have also allowed the continued co-production in designing rescue excavation methodologies and protocols for post-disaster responses to damaged and destroyed heritage. This included the training of Sri Lankan officers from the Central Cultural Fund, Myanmar officers from the Department of Archaeology and National Museum, Lumbini Buddhist University Students and DoA officers in rescue excavation at the Kasthamandap, alongside on-site interactions with architects and engineers during all stages of the excavation process. This facilitated cross-disciplinary interactions to provide further insight into the potential avenues of reconstruction and rehabilitation of monuments post-earthquake, as well as further understandings of past traditional construction techniques. It also aided the evaluation of the nature and condition of the foundations of the collapsed Kasthamandap to assist the preparation of plans for its reconstruction. Our report and recommendations (Coningham et al. 2016) have been submitted to the expert panel charged with its reconstruction and we have made a number of recommendations which advocate that the foundation walls of the Kasthamandap should be retained as far as possible, utilising traditional techniques, including reused brick and mud mortar, due to the strength and resilience of the existing foundations. We also used our findings to provide training to first-responders in a 'live exercise' at a monument at Pashupati. Deliberately collapsed in the aftermath of the 2015 Earthquake to avoid injury during aftershocks, the Guruju Sattal provided a safe area and a spread of rubble over a monument's foundations to train first-responders in how to manage a heritage site in the emergency phase of a disaster, and included participants from the Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and Nepal Army as well as heritage professionals from the DoA, and Officers from the site manager, Pashupati Area Development Trust. Our recommendations from this process have also been forwarded to the Pashupati Area Development Trust for inclusion within the development of their second master plan for this UNESCO World Heritage Site within the Kathmandu Valley. Finally, in July 2017, the Central Cultural Fund of the Government of Sri Lanka invited Durham's UNESCO Chair to join them and the University of Jaffna to apply and co-adapt the post-earthquake methdologies developed in Kathmandu to the war damaged heritage of the old Dutch Fort in Jaffna, northern Sri Lanka. In addition to colleagues from the UNESCO Chair, the Jaffna team was joined by an officer from the Department of Archaeology, Goverrnment of Nepal, who had already been trained in Kathmandu. The UK National Commission for UNESCO selected the case study as one of their examples within their 2021 Heritage, Disaster Response and Resilience policy brief. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2016 |
| Sector | Construction,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Policy & public services |
| Description | Co-production of archaeology strand within the new Master Plan for the Pashupati Area Development Trust, one of the Kathmandu Valley's UNESCO World Heritage Sites |
| Geographic Reach | Asia |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Impact | Cultural heritage is threatened by increasing pilgrim numbers at major religious sites around the world, particularly in South Asia. Pashupatikshetra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site within the Kathmandu Valley (Nepal), offers a microcosm of the impacts facing archaeology from these global developments and can provide a case-study of balancing heritage management and sustainable pilgrimage. Located on the southern outskirts of the historic city of Deopatan, Pashupatikshetra comprises a monumental core of temples, ashrams and funerary ghats covering 83 hectares along the Bagmati River (Michaels and Tandon 1994: 180). One of the most sacred Hindu temples in Nepal and Kathmandu's premier cremation location, inscriptions indicate that the site was already a place of significance in the Licchavi period. A major Saivite pilgrimage site in South Asia, Pashupatikshetra receives approximately six million pilgrims annually. While significant conservation interventions and research have been focused on its monuments, which mainly date to the eighteenth century, they represent just a fraction of Pashupatikshetra's heritage and history as the majority rest buried beneath the contemporary townscape. We have demonstrated that the future survival of Pashupatikshetra's subsurface heritage rests in the careful balance between the needs of infrastructure development for pilgrims, tourists and residents with the preservation of its heritage. Central to our advocacy for preservation is the development of a strategy to characterise and map Pashupatikshetra's subsurface archaeology in order to guide the future infrastructure developments necessary for improving the life of its residents and delivering sustainable pilgrimage. We have stressed that this risk-mapping process need to be research-driven with archaeological and epigraphic evidence utilised to answer questions about the date and character of the earliest phases of the site, the development of patronage and the social, economic and administrative roles of Pashupatikshetra from its earliest occupation through to the present. |
| URL | https://www.dur.ac.uk/cech/unescochair/research/pashupati/ |
| Description | Heritage, Disaster Response and Resilience briefing for policy and practice |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Citation in other policy documents |
| Description | Conservation Award |
| Amount | $17,212 (USD) |
| Funding ID | C333-16 |
| Organisation | National Geographic |
| Sector | Private |
| Country | United States |
| Start | 11/2016 |
| End | 10/2017 |
| Description | Implementing Partner Agreement |
| Amount | £11,314 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | 4500318125 |
| Organisation | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | France |
| Start | 11/2016 |
| End | 03/2017 |
| Description | Professional Mobility Award |
| Amount | € 3,000 (EUR) |
| Organisation | Alliance for the Protection of Asian Cultural Heritage |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | France |
| Start | 11/2016 |
| End | 01/2017 |
| Title | Post-Disaster Rescue Archaeology Toolkits |
| Description | Located south of the historic city of Deopatan, Pashupati comprises a monumental core of temples, ashrams and funerary ghats covering 83 hectares along the Bagmati River (Michaels and Tandon 1994: 180). As the most sacred Hindu temple in Nepal, Kathmandu's premier cremation location and a major Saivite site in South Asia, Pashupati receives approximately six million pilgrims annually. Challenged by the careful balance between the needs of infrastructure development for pilgrims and tourists and the preservation of heritage, Pashupati also suffered damage to heritage during the 2015 Gorkha earthquakes and, as such, a programme of conservation, renovation and post-disaster rehabilitation was initiated at the site. A human catastrophe that devastated lives and livelihoods across Nepal, the Gorkha earthquakes also caused a cultural catastrophe, damaging and destroying monuments within the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Pashupati. Whilst the majority of monuments within the main temple complex were not catastrophically damaged when compared with sites across the Kathmandu Valley UNESCO World Heritage Property, several structures within the temple complex sustained significant damage. One of these structures was the Guruju Sattal, a three-storied rest house, located adjacent to the western entrance of the main temple complex. Badly damaged in the initial earthquake, the monument was subsequently deliberately demolished to avoid loss of life caused by falling masonry in later aftershocks. The spread of rubble over and around the Guruju Sattal's foundations also provided an excellent opportunity for capacity building and the training of first-responders in methodologies and protocols for the protection of heritage and recovery of historic materials during post-disaster scenarios. We therefore undertook a 'live exercise' between the 2nd and 20th December 2016, whereby first-responders to a disaster, including personnel from the Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and Nepal Army as well as heritage professionals from the Department of Archaeology, Government of Nepal, and Officers from the site manager, Pashupati Area Development Trust, were provided with training on the collapsed building. The Guruju Sattal's ruins and debris allowed us to replicate a collapsed monument, similar to those encountered in the immediate post-earthquake phase. A year after the 2015 earthquakes, this live exercise also offered the opportunity of capacity building in a safe training environment, giving first-responders the necessary skills and knowledge of post-disaster archaeological methods and protocols to enable the protection of heritage alongside rapid response during search and rescue efforts focused on the injured, trapped or dead. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | Having uncovered evidence of earlier phases of monuments and settlements, which would have been lost without rescue excavations in advance of reconstruction, we also recognise that the events of 2015 illustrate the need for capacity building and training. Although rigorous archaeological rescue excavations are now being conducted in the non-emergency phase, there remains a gap in capacity for the protection of heritage in the aftermath of an earthquake. In the immediate aftermath of the Gorkha earthquake it was observed that materials from several monuments were mixed during clearing, including the removal of modern and archaeological material together. This was then removed en masse, with historic material from Hanuman Dhoka's Durbar Square removed by army trucks and dumped unsorted). Whilst humanitarian efforts are of paramount importance, this is a critical phase for the protection of heritage. Therefore, it is imperative that there is training for first-responders in methodologies for the protection of heritage and recovery of historic materials during post-disaster scenarios. There is also an economic aspect to this as newly made brick for heritage construction are currently in short supply and cost an estimated £1.31 each - a huge figure considering the hundreds of thousands of bricks just dumped during UNDP-sponsored clearing. During December 2016, a 'live' training exercise' was implemented at Pashupati Temple complex to provide a field laboratory in post-disaster heritage methodologies and approaches to damaged cultural heritage sites. Whilst the majority of monuments at Pashupati were unharmed, some sustained damage. This included the Guruju Sattal, a three-storied rest house, located adjacent to the western entrance of the main Temple complex, which was badly damaged during the earthquake and the unstable structure was deliberately demolished. The spread of rubble over the Guruju Sattal's foundations provided an opportunity to train first-responders in how to manage a heritage site in the emergency phase of a disaster, and included participants from the Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and Nepal Army as well as heritage professionals from the DoA, and Officers from the site manager, Pashupati Area Development Trust. The Guruju Sattal's ruins and debris allowed us to replicate a collapsed monument, similar to those encountered in a post-earthquake phase in a safe training environment. It offered first-responders skills and knowledge of post-disaster archaeological methods and protocols to enable the protection of heritage alongside rapid response during search and rescue efforts. As there was a lack of capacity in the recording, recovery and sorting of archaeological material during the emergency response phase, especially amongst first-responders, who were present on the scene post-disaster and encountered archaeological materials during this very difficult and stressful phase of humanitarian recovery, we aimed to develop a simple methodology that had three key requirements: 1) A method that could be quickly implemented at, and transferred to, any collapsed monument; 2) A rapid methodology which would not impede the recovery of trapped or injured people within a collapsed monument; 3) A method that could be implemented by non-heritage experts without specialist equipment. Guruju Sattal provided an ideal monument around which to co-produce a methodology and protocols in a non-threatening environment with individuals and groups of first-responders. The following methodology was developed during the live exercise. As speed is of the essence, the size of the rubble spread from a collapsed monument should be quickly assessed, with this area then gridded into squares. The rationale behind the grid is that any rubble removed can be provenanced to a particular locality within the site. The grid therefore allows for the quick removal of material with a fairly robust known spatial location. A replicated grid is created near the site, mirroring the layout of the trench grid, with rubble moved into the corresponding grid square. This replicated grid can be constructed from bamboo or metal scaffold, or outlined with lime depending on availability of materials in the immediate post-disaster period. In later processing, this means that artefacts, including structural elements, can be spatially reconstructed in the hope that salvaged material could possibly be reused in reconstruction and conservation. Before the clearance of debris, a quick photograph is taken using a mobile phone, which is likely to be at hand to many first-responders, especially military and police personnel. To provide a quick scale, any equipment to hand to remove the rubble in post-disaster recovery and clearance efforts, such as a shovel, can be utilised. Rubble is then removed within each square onto the surviving in-situ archaeology below, such as floors or stable old land surfaces, which is also where the injured, trapped and dead would be located. To speed up the removal of rubble, material can be shovelled into sacks. These sacks can then be labelled with a unique identifying number, linked to each grid-square and then deposited in the replicated grid square to be processed during the non-emergency phase. Furthermore, portable antiquities and fragments of sculpture were also given unique special find numbers and removed to a safe locked store nearby. Furthermore, brick and tile, that was not broken or damaged can be stacked by each replicated square so that these can be reused in reconstruction. By salvaging bricks, the cost of producing new brick for reconstructions could be reduced, saving money during the very costly reconstruction phase. The PDNA anticipated these "bottlenecks in the supply of timber and special bricks used for restoration" (PDNA 2015: 4) after huge amounts of material was removed from historic sites and dumped in various localities around the Valley following clearance of collapsed monuments. It is also suggested that after this emergency phase, the surviving standing architecture of a monument can be assessed, as can its foundations and earlier cultural sequences, in a research orientated environment prior to reconstruction, as illustrated by our work at Kasthamandap and other monuments across the Kathmandu Valley. During the live exercise at Guruju Sattal, the photographs and records were uploaded to a private Facebook group. This could be accessed by all members to upload their data but also allowed them to see records and photographs uploaded by other members. Furthermore, the group allowed for discussions and communication during the live exercise. We are aware that internet connections might fail during a disaster, as in the days after the earthquake of 25th April 2015, and we are currently developing an off-line app that can be used on a mobile phone for the uploading of data during excavation and the post-disaster emergency response.. |
| URL | https://www.dur.ac.uk/cech/unescochair/research/kathmandu/ |
| Description | Department of Archaeology and National Museum, Government of Myanmar |
| Organisation | National Museum of Myanmar |
| Department | Department of Archaeology, National Museum and Library |
| Country | Myanmar |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | We trained two officers from the Department of Archaeology and National Museum, Government of Myanmar in post-disaster rescue excavation in Kathmandu. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Department of Archaeology and National Museum, Government of Myanmar, deputed two experienced Archaeological Officers to join our post-disaster team allowing us to expand the remit of the funded program. |
| Impact | On-going |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Department of Archaeology, Government of Nepal |
| Organisation | Government of Nepal |
| Department | Ministry of Education |
| Country | Nepal |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | We co-directed and co-produced the season of post-disaster rescue excavations in Kathmandu. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Our partners provided access, and logistic and professional support in the field. |
| Impact | On-going |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Post-Disaster Rescue Archaeology Training |
| Organisation | Government of Sri Lanka |
| Country | Sri Lanka |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | We trained four Archaeological Officers from the Central Cultural Fund, Government of Sri Lanka, in post-disaster rescue archaeology. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The Central Cultural Fund, Government of Sri Lanka, deputed four experienced Archaeological Officers to join our post-disaster team allowing us to expand the remit of the funded program. |
| Impact | Training delivered. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Community and Stakeholder Briefing Meeting in Nasal Chowk, Hanuman Dhoka, Kathmandu, Nepal |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Community and Stakeholder Briefing Meeting in Nasal Chowk in Hanuman Dhoka (Kathmandu, Nepal) was held on the 11/11/2016 in order to set out the agreed program of activities over the following weeks. Prof Robin Coningham shared the podium with two local MPs and the Director-General of Archaeology, Government of Nepal, all of whom spoke. The audience was drawn from representatives residents, policy makers, NGOs, Government of Nepal, UNESCO, practitioners and media. Participants and members of the podium welcomed team and stressed their support for what they saw as a critical post-disaster activity. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016,2017 |
| URL | https://kathmanduproject2016.wordpress.com/blog/page/2/ |
| Description | Community and Stakeholder Debriefing Meeting in Nasal Chowk, Hanuman Dhoka, Kathmandu, Nepal |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Community and Stakeholder Debriefing Meeting in Nasal Chowk in Hanuman Dhoka (Kathmandu, Nepal) was held on the 18/11/2016 in order to report back progress omn the agreed program of activities. Prof Robin Coningham shared the podium again with two local MPs and the Director-General of Archaeology and the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Government of Nepal, all of whom spoke. The audience was drawn from representatives residents, policy makers, NGOs, Government of Nepal, UNESCO, practitioners and media. Participants and members of the podium welcomed the team's findings and supported their interim recommendations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| Description | Heritage at Risk 2017: Pathways to the Protection and Rehabilitation of Cultural Heritage in South Asia: the Kathmandu Valley |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The workshop discussed the outcomes of two recent collaborative AHRC-GCRF funded projects on 'Post-Disaster Archaeological Investigations in the Kathmandu Valley UNESCO World Heritage Property' and 'Promoting the Protection of Heritage Sites in Nepal's Western Terai in the Face of Accelerated Development'. It mobilised experts and professionals from a wide range of disciplines, including archaeology, conservation, architecture, heritage management, planning, and economics from across South Asia and the United Kingdom along with local stakeholders, including community members, site managers, army and administrative officers to discuss contemporary issues of the protection of heritage during natural disaster, conflicts but also accelerated development. This event was sponsored by AHRC's Global Challenges Research Fund, with support from UNESCO Kathmandu, ICOMOS (Nepal) and the Department of Archaeology (Government of Nepal). It took place between the 4 and 7 September 2017 in Kathmandu, Nepal, with a key note on the evening of 3 September, by Prof R.A.E. Coningham and Mr K.P. Acharya, on the AHRC-funded project "Can We Rebuild Kasthmandap?". Through interaction with, and feedback from, local stakeholders, community leaders, administrators and key disaster responders and first responders, the participants co-produced resolutions for the enhanced protection and rehabilitation of heritage following natural disasters, conflict and in the face of accelerated development in Kathmandu and the Greater Lumbini Area. The Workshop was divided into eight sessions: - Session 1: First Responses to South Asian Heritage Disasters - Session 2: Post-Disaster Archaeology - Session 3: Post-disaster Reconstruction - Session 4: First Responders - Session 5: Heritage in Danger: Case-Studies from across South Asia - Session 6: Damage to South Asian Heritage Sites - Session 7: Threats and challenges to the protection of heritage sites in Nepal's Western Terai - Session 8: Community Engagement - Kathmandu Valley Resolutions - Greater Lumbini Area Resolutions |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.dur.ac.uk/cech/unescochair/workshops/heritageatrisk/ |
| Description | International Symposium in Vienna jointly with the Austrian Academy of Sciences: "After the earthquake: Research, protection and preservation of Nepal's cultural heritage" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | International Symposium jointly with the Austrian Academy of Sciences: "After the earthquake: Research, protection and preservation of Nepal's cultural heritage". The 2015 Gorkha Earthquake devastated communities across Nepal through the great loss of lives and livelihoods. But this natural disaster was not only a humanitarian tragedy, it was also a cultural catastrophe, with heritage sites across all of Nepal destroyed or seriously damaged. Whilst much international media attention was focussed on the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, showing the loss and destruction of monument sites, post-disaster research has been examining the on-going threats to tangible and intangible heritage during the post-emergency phases and the first reconstruction efforts. This international workshop brought together academics and heritage practitioners from Nepal, Austria, Germany and the UK - archaeologists, philologists, anthropologists, epigraphists and conservators - who have been active in developing research methods and approaches for protecting and preserving the cultural heritage of Nepal in the aftermath of the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake. The workshop presented new research approaches to Nepal's past, as well as information about current steps being taken to protect its cultural heritage together with stake-holder communities, particularly in the face of future earthquakes in this seismically active region. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.univie.ac.at/cirdis/center/news-and-events/event-archive |
| Description | Post-Conflict Archaeological Training in the Jaffna Peninsula |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Emerging from a 26 year conflict in 2009, the island of Sri Lanka is now addressing associated humanitarian and cultural impacts as well as establishing a roadmap to national reconciliation. Whilst post-conflict efforts have begun to address humanitarian challenges, damaged cultural heritage has only recently been appreciated for its potential contribution to post-conflict renewal, peace-building and economic development through national and international tourism (Pushparatnam 2014). One monument badly damaged during the conflict was Jaffna Fort, which had sections of its ramparts damaged and most of the structures within its 22 hectare interior destroyed. Established by the Portuguese in 1618 CE as a quadrangular fort, it was later expanded and remodelled as a five-sided fort by the Dutch, who captured it in 1658. Prior to the conflict, Jaffna Fort was one of the largest and best preserved colonial forts in Asia (Nelson 1984). Despite detailed knowledge of its later history, little is known of its early sequences below the colonial period structures on the surface. Despite the pioneering textual and field surveys of Indrapala (1965), Pathmanathan (1969) and Ragupathy (1987), the early archaeological sequence of Jaffna, and Northern Sri Lanka more generally, is less well understood than other parts of the island, partly due to access during the conflict but also due to a focus on the monumental heritage of the island's early capitals. Although there are exceptions, there is a general lacuna of published scientifically-dated stratigraphic sequences relating to pre-colonial heritage in Northern Sri Lanka, forcing a bias towards the use of textual sources for reconstructing the region's past. Recent conservation-related work within Jaffna Fort included the excavation of a four metre deep exploratory engineering sondage, from which Early Historic Rouletted Ware was recovered as well as medieval Islamic and Chinese ceramics. With affinities elsewhere within the island (Carswell, Deraniyagala and Graham 2013), these artefacts hint at the antiquity and depth of cultural occupation within Jaffna Fort as well as its pre-colonial role within South Asia and Indian Ocean trade networks. Furthermore, the use of Ground Penetrating Radar will allow for potential identification of earlier structural layouts within the entirety of the interior of the fort, to link to the excavated sequences. Many of the standing remains within Jaffna fort have suffered substantial damage during the recent conflict and, as conservation and reconstruction programmes are developed for the site, there is a clear need to co-produce methods for recording cultural debris as it is removed during the exposure of the walls and foundations below. Building on our earlier post-earthquake research in Nepal's Kathmandu Valley Nepal's Kathmandu Valley, we piloted a methodology for post-disaster excavations in the ruins of the Kruys Kerk in the north-east corner of the fort. Built by the Dutch in 1706, the kirk was mined and destroyed during the conflict and its surviving walls lay hidden below large blocks of masonry and rubble spreads. Therefore, we started by gridding the north-east corner of the monument and removed the cultural rubble from each square and placed it within the corresponding square within a replicated grid outside the structure. This allowed as to rapidly removal the material while ensuring spatial control. Construction materials from each square were then counted, weighed and stacked for reuse. This was particularly pertinent for monuments within Jaffna Fort as many of the original materials are non-renewable as coral blocks are illegal to procure under national and international legislation and eighteenth century Dutch bricks are no longer available in bulk. During the removal of rubble, we recovered and catalogued a number of fragments of sculpture and portable antiquities, which helped provide information about the history of the Kerk. This included fragments of memorial slabs from the church wall, which are now being reconstructed to provide information on individuals who were interred or commemorated within the Kerk. Our removal of the debris allowed for the associated investigation and evaluation of the Kerk's foundations, which is of critical importance to understand the residual strength of load-bearing walls in advance of conservation or reconstruction. Our exposure of the full depth of the foundations revealed the presence of the cracks throughout the coral and limestone block foundations. As we exposed Dutch period bracing and buttressing of the Kerk's exterior wall, we may conclude that a number of the cracks were not conflict-related. This provisional finding will assist the development of plans for the future conservation and restoration of the monument as well as providing a methodology for the future clearing of the rest of the Kerk and other damaged monuments across the site. A survey of 22 of the practitioners who participated in the training revealed that 91% felt that the training had better equipped them to participate in protect heritage in the event of a disaster. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.dur.ac.uk/cech/unescochair/research/jaffna/ |
| Description | Post-Conflict Archaeology in the Jaffna Peninsula |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A post-conflict archaeology workshop was held at Jaffna Public Library on the 20th July 2017 to discuss and disseminate results from the project activities. Bringing together local stakeholders, experts and specialists in archaeology, history, architecture and conservation from across Sri Lanka, and team members from the project, including CCF Officers and students from the University of Jaffna, academics from the University of Jaffna and officers from the Department of Archaeology (Government of Sri Lanka), the Lumbini Development Trust and the Department of Archaeology (Government of Nepal), the workshop facilitated the contextualisation of the preliminary results of excavations with previous work undertaken within the Jaffna Peninsula and Sri Lanka. The workshop was formally opened by Professor Prishanta Gunawardhana, Director-General of the Central Cultural Fund with Professor P. Balasundarampillai, former Vice Chancellor of the University of Jaffna, as the Guest of Honour. Speakers included Professor P. Balasundarampillai, former Vice Chancellor of the University of Jaffna; Professor P. Gunawardhana, Director-General, Central Cultural Fund; Professor P. Pushparatnam, University of Jaffna and Director, Central Cultural Fund Jaffna; Professor R. Coningham, UNESCO Chair, Durham University; Dr N. Cooray, Director of Conservation, Central Cultural Fund; Mrs S. Mathota, Director of International Relations, Central Cultural Fund; Mr L.C. Maithreepala, Project Manager, Central Cultural Fund Jaffna; Mr P Weerasinghe, Assistant Director, Northern Province, Department of Archaeology, Government of Sri Lanka; Professor S. Krishnarajah, University of Jaffna; Dr Christopher Davis and Ms Anouk LaFortune-Bernard of Durham University; and S. Thaceenthan and S. Ajiththa of Central Cultural Fund Jaffna. During the workshop, a temporary exhibition providing preliminary results was displayed, including six tri-lingual (Tamil, Sinhala and English) information boards (Figure 30). These information boards were augmented by a display of artefacts uncovered during the project. Project participants from the CCF and students from the University of Jaffna provided information to workshop participants on the artefacts displayed. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.dur.ac.uk/cech/unescochair/research/jaffna/ |
| Description | Presentation to Society for Earthquake and Civil Engineering Dynamics (Institute of Civil Engineers) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation to 50 practitioner members of the Society for Earthquake and Engineering Dynamics (Institute of Civil Engineers) on the learning from the salvage, treatment and study of heritage structures in Kathmandu after the 2015 Earthquake. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.ice.org.uk/eventarchive/kathmandu-unesco-learning-2015-gorkha-earthquake |
| Description | Presentation to the Chartered Institute of Field Archaeologists at their Annual Conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation on 'Post-Disaster Archaeological Responses to Nepal's Earthquakes' in the International Practice Special Interest Group session 'Global archaeology - threats and solutions' to a group of 52 within the Annual Conference of the Chartered Institute of Field Archaeologists. This activity was planned to stress the key role that archaeology can have within the initial post-disaster phase and it, along with the other papers, will no be independently published to stress the importance of such steps to preserve culture in post-disaster scenarios. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.archaeologists.net/sites/default/files/CIfA2017-Session-timetable-Mar2017.pdf |
| Description | Public Panel Discussion on Solutions |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | I was one of the invited panellists speaking at the Panel Discussion on Solutions - as part of the ICOMOS-UNESCO-IPCC International Co-Sponsored Meeting on Culture, Heritage and Climate Change in December 2021. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.cultureclimatemeeting.org/news/ |
| Description | Public lecture at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna 'Seismic safety: Interdisciplinary approaches for assessing resilience and pathways towards the rehabilitation of the cultural heritage of Kathmandu in post-earthquake Nepal |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Kathmandu's medieval cities and shrines are exceptional architectural and artistic achievements underpinned by traditions of seismic adaptation developed over centuries. They host urban infrastructure of tangible and intangible value and play vital roles of cohesion in the life of thousands, representing portals where the heavens touch earth and people commune with guiding deities. Kathmandu's iconic skyline was dramatically altered by the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake and there is pressure to reconstruct swiftly as these community assets also generate 7.6% of the country's Gross Domestic Product through tourism. A human tragedy, the earthquake was also a cultural catastrophe and damaged 403 monuments in Kathmandu's historic urban infrastructure. Although Official Development Assistance (ODA) pledges for the rehabilitation of this damaged heritage amount to $2.5 billion, there is a lack of research and clear tensions between Sendai's 'Build Back Better' framework and the obligation to preserve the authenticity and intangible values of Kathmandu's UNESCO sites; a tension which threatens the protection of these monuments of Outstanding Universal Value. Many risk reduction strategies have involved the demolition of historic monuments without assessment of why, or how, they collapsed. Without recording earlier structural phases, or even the stability and integrity of foundations, many historic monuments are rebuilt privileging modern materials, even though such materials are not necessarily suited to seismic flexibility and resilience and also ignore successful histories of vernacular systems. Furthermore, the use of new materials such as bricks, rather than the recycling of reusable salvage, incurs high economic and environmental costs. In addition, key stakeholders, including residents, craftspeople and tour operators/business, are frequently excluded from decision-making processes on reconstruction, even though the risk to them, and their livelihoods, remains. This lecture presents the need to bring together a multi-disciplinary team of Nepali and international archaeologists, architects, geoarchaeologists, social scientists, 3D visualisation experts, philologists and engineers to address these challenges. Combining their expertise, the team is co-producing a 'heritage ecosystem' approach to traditional monuments through an assessment of historic construction practice, traditional construction ability and materials, and the links between local stakeholder groups, the built environment and intangible practices. Combined with dissemination activities, including exhibitions, briefings and workshops, our activities are already informing the reconstruction and rehabilitation of parts of Kathmandu's historic infrastructure and co-designing frameworks and guidelines for the enhanced protection and resilience of Nepal's cultural heritage in the face of future natural disasters. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.univie.ac.at/cirdis/center/news-and-events/event-archive |
| Description | Radio interview with ORF (Austrian Broadcasting Corporation)'s Science.ORD.AT interview on Robin Coningham's keynote lecture "Seismic safety" in Vienna |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Radio interview with ORF (Austrian Broadcasting Corporation)'s Science.ORD.AT interview on Robin Coningham's keynote lecture "Seismic safety" in ViennaRadio Aus Trümmern lernen. Followed by an article on the interview and lecture posted on the ORF (Austrian Broadcasting Corporation)'s online "science" section. Both pieces discussed the outcomes of the AHRC-GCRF funded projects on 'Post-Disaster Archaeological Investigations in the Kathmandu Valley UNESCO World Heritage Property'. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://science.orf.at/stories/2943244/ |
| Description | Recording, Evaluation and Recovery of Destroyed Heritage Sites |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Coordinated by Durham University's UNESCO Chair and the University of Mosul, an online workshop entitled 'Recording, Evaluation and Recovery of Destroyed Heritage Sites' was attended by 101 participants and provided a global context to heritage at risk by introducing post-disaster fieldwork before providing training for volunteers to undertaken interviews with those who managed debris at heritage sites within Old Mosul after destruction wrought by ISIS. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Technical Briefing Meeting in the Department of Archaeology, Government of Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The Technical Briefing Meeting in the Department of Archaeology, Government of Nepal (Kathmandu, Nepal) was held on the 17/12/2016 in order to present and review the findings and recommendations from the agreed program of activities since the work commenced in November. The workshop was chaired by the Deputy Director-General of Archaeology, Government of Nepal, and presentations were made by Mr Kosh Prasad Acharya, Prof Ian Simpson, Mr Ram Bahadur Kunwar, Dr Chris Davis, Dr Paolo Forlin and Prof Robin Coningham. The audience was drawn from policy makers, NGOs, Government of Nepal, UNESCO and practitioners. Participants supported the findings presented and agreed with the recommendations made. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | https://twitter.com/durunescochair |