Latest news with #WorldMonumentsFund
Evening Standard
11-06-2025
- General
- Evening Standard
Did London miss out in the Chancellor's spending review? ...The Standard podcast
And in part two, as featured in The Standard's Hidden London series, we're joined by John Darlington, an archaeologist and director of projects for the World Monuments Fund, to explore Boston Manor House.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Archaeologists Were Searching a Forest in the Clouds—and Found 100 Structures From an Ancient City
Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: Archaeologists with the World Monuments Fund uncovered over 100 previously unknown archaeological structures in Peru's Rio Abiseo National Park. The area in and around the park was the home of the Chachapoya civilization from the seventh through 16th centuries. Located over 6,500 feet above sea level, the members of this civilization were known as the 'people of the cloud forest.' Rio Abiseo National Park sits over 10,000 feet above sea level in Peru's San Martin region of the Andes Mountains. Plenty of its land is known to hold ancient discoveries, and archaeologists are still uncovering more. Recently, a team located over 100 previously unknown structures, all part of the Chachapoya civilization from sometime between the seventh and 16th centuries. According to a release from the World Monuments Fund, a team of archaeologists explored the Gran Pajatén area within the Rio Abiseo National Park, a UNESCO Mixed World Heritage site recognized for both cultural richness and natural beauty. The area was first rediscovered in the 1960s, and in the 1980s—the national park was officially founded in 1983—archaeological teams found 26 ancient structures. This new discovery of over 100 additional structures expands our understanding of the Chachapoya civilization, the members of which were known as the 'people of the cloud forest.' The civilization was known for sophisticated urban centers, ceremonial platforms, cliffside burial structures, and agricultural terraces. The regional chiefdom society also had a distinctive architectural and artistic language that remains on display in circular buildings, geometric friezes, and decorated burials. From 2022 through 2024, researchers used aerial and manual LiDAR scanning, photogrammetry, topographic registration, and technomorphological analysis to create a detailed map of Gran Pajatén—a site with ceremonial buildings decorated with high-relief friezes, views of the cloud forest, and stone mosaics depicting human figures. The technology allowed archaeologists to see through the forest canopy, map the area, and interpret construction techniques and layout. 'What makes this moment so meaningful is not only the scale of what's been uncovered, but how we were able to do it,' Benedicte de Montlaur, president and CEO of WMF, said in a statement. 'By using advanced technology, our team was able to gather extraordinary visual and scientific documentation that brings Grant Pajaten to life—all while preserving its delicate environment.' On the ground, investigations have confirmed the Chachapoya presence at Gran Pajatén stretches back as far back as the 14th century, with soil layer analysis hinting at even earlier use of the site. Adding to the discovery is a nearby network of pre-Hispanic roads connecting the site to others in the region, supporting the theory that the civilization was part of a well-connected territory full of hierarchical systems. 'This discovery radically expands our understating of Gran Pajaten and raises new questions about the site's role in the Chachapoya world,' Juan Pablo de la Puente Brunke, executive director of WMF in Peru, said in a statement. 'Evidence now confirms that it is not an isolated complex but part of an articulated network of pre-Hispanic settlements from different periods.' The park's remote location means that the rich archaeological sites have been subject to minimal human intervention, helping protect the history with a high degree of authenticity. Many of the sites, though, are fragile, overgrown by vegetation. While there, the archaeological team undertook conservation interventions to reinforce stairs and stone reliefs, along with a partial reassembly of a perimeter wall. Ricardo Morales Gamarra, head of the conservation component of the project, said that the work can serve as a model for future efforts in the area. The Museo de Arte de Lima in Peru is now offering a free exhibition on the Chachapoya culture and the recent WFM discoveries. 'Though the site itself remains out of reach for most,' de Montlaur said, 'these tools will allow us to share its stories widely through thoughtful, immersive digital storytelling.' You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
100 new structures from Peruvian Chachapoya civilization found in Andes
World Monuments Fund (WMF) announced a monumental discovery at Gran Pajatén, one of Peru's most significant archaeological sites for its exceptional architecture from the Chachapoya civilization. In the 1960s, the Rio Abiseo National Park, a UNESCO Mixed World Heritage Site, quickly became known as one of the most remarkable surviving Chachapoya sites in the country. The complex included 26 ceremonial buildings decorated with stone mosaics depicting human figures, high-relief friezes, and more. Recently, researchers identified and documented more than 100 previously unknown archaeological structures. Described as a 'milestone,' the buildings have advanced archaeologists' understanding of their settlement organization, architecture, and regional influence, according to a press release. Earlier research unearthed the site, but much remained hidden beneath dense vegetation since the 1960s, shrouding the complex's chronology and scope in mystery. However, advanced technology, including aerial and manual LiDAR scanning, photogrammetry, topographic registration, and technomorphological analysis, enabled archaeologists to bring an unprecedented view of the Gran Pajatén to the surface without damaging the delicate ecosystem that holds it. 'What makes this moment so meaningful is not only the scale of what's been uncovered, but how we were able to do it,' Bénédicte de Montlaur said, President and CEO of World Monuments Fund. 'By using advanced technology, our team gathered extraordinary visual and scientific documentation that brings Gran Pajatén to life—all while preserving its delicate environment. Though the site remains out of reach for most, these tools will allow us to share its stories widely through thoughtful, immersive digital storytelling. 'This discovery radically expands our understanding of Gran Pajatén and raises new questions about the site's role in the Chachapoya world. Evidence now confirms that it is not an isolated complex but part of an articulated network of pre-Hispanic settlements from different periods,' Juan Pablo de la Puente Brunke, Executive Director of WMF in Peru, continued in a press release. As the age of Gran Pajatén remained elusive, archaeologists confirmed that it dated earlier than they thought, the 14th century. The soil revealed an even earlier use of the site. Furthermore, aside from a 'commanding view' of the cloud forest nearby, a nearby network of roads suggested an organized and well-connected territory. Known as 'the people of the cloud forest,' the Chachapoya civilization developed between the seventh and sixteenth centuries in the northeastern Andes of Peru. They settled about 6,561-9,842 feet above sea level. Often in hard-to-reach locations, they built sophisticated urban centers, ceremonial platforms, cliffside burial structures, and agricultural terraces. They demonstrated a 'distinctive' architectural and artistic language, as their unique circular buildings, geometric friezes, and highly decorated cliffside burials reflect. Though they successfully warded off the Inca superpower, they eventually were incorporated before the arrival of the Spanish. A free exhibition at the Museo de Arte de Lima (MALI), Peru, on view from May 21 to June 18, offers visitors an opportunity to explore the Chachapoya culture in Peru and learn more about WMF's recent discoveries, the press release concludes.
Daily Mirror
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Incredible abandoned European town still 'so pretty' but locals cannot return
This southern Italian village was completely abandoned after landslides and earthquakes forced residents to leave, but the crumbling town is increasingly intriguing to travellers As ghost towns go, this one leans more stunning than spooky. Its dramatic setting on a hill in southern Italy gives this abandoned medieval town a distinct appeal for travellers, though it became too dangerous for former residents to remain. Craco is surely one of the most picturesque ghost towns in Europe, if not in the world. It sits on a clifftop between the valleys of the Agri and Salandrella-Cavone rivers. Before its ruin, the village had a prosperous past supposedly linked to the Templars. Craco was abandoned somewhat recently after an unfortunate series of natural disasters forced residents to pick up and move on. Almost all of the town's less than 2,000 inhabitants were moved to a settlement in a nearby valley after a landslide in 1963 - the last in a series of landslides that began at the end of the 19th century. Some contend that the landslides leading up to the 1963 disaster were caused by faulty pipework and excavations in the decades prior. Even the few inhabitants who chose to remain after the landslides were forced to leave when the village was devastated in 1972 by a flood. And when earthquakes hit the town in 1980, the remaining stragglers moved on, leaving it totally abandoned. Since then, Craco has remained relatively untouched and fuelled many mysterious legends. The town's fame became international when it was used as a location for the 2008 James Bond film James Bond, Quantum of Solace, and it continues to attract curious travellers. Craco has served as a filming location for many notable works, in fact. It was also chosen as the location for Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" and Francesco Rosi's "Cristo si è fermato a Eboli". Today, Craco is a collection of ruins though they highlight the rich ancient history of the area. Travellers will come upon ancient churches, such as the Mother Church of San Nicola and the Madonna della Stella church, and noble palaces, from palazzo Carbone to palazzo Grossi. The village has increasingly grown into disrepair as weekends sprout within the churches and balconies and weather-damaged properties continue to rust and disintegrate. That said, Craco has been included on a list of sites that are priorities of the World Monuments Fund. The town can only now be visited as part of guided tours, due to the instability of the buildings. Visitors are required to wear hard hats for their safety. Italy is home to quite a few abandoned towns, though Craco is arguably the most beautiful. Fossa is another Italian village that was left abandoned after natural disasters cause significant damage. When Matt Nadin travelled to Italy to explore the village of Fossa in the L'Aquila region of the country, he found many items had been left behind by families, including a mummified cat. Fossa had been inhabited for around 900 years until an earthquake struck in 2009. The quake caused severe damage to the village's buildings and left 308 people dead. Today the empty streets and abandoned buildings give the village the feeling of a ghost town. Another abandoned town that is gaining attention for the morbidly curious is Varosha. The once-thriving resort town was left abandoned after the Turkish army invaded the northern region of Cyprus on July 20, 1974. While the town remained closed to visitors for many years, in October 2020, a decision was made by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the then prime minister of Northern Cyprus, Ersin Tatar, to reopen the area to tourists. More than 1.8 million tourists have visited the ghost town in the last four years - according to statistics released in 2024.
BBC News
16-05-2025
- Science
- BBC News
The 'space archaeologists' hoping to save our cosmic history
The infrastructure of humanity's journey into space may only be decades old, but some of it has already been lost. A new generation of "space archaeologists" are scrambling to save what's left. Space is being commercialised on a scale unseen before. Faced by powerful commercial and political forces and with scant legal protections, artefacts that tell the story of our species' journey into space are in danger of being lost – both in orbit and down here on Earth. Like Stonehenge, these are irreplaceable artefacts and sites that have a timeless significance to humanity because they represent an essential stage in the evolution of our species. They are often also expressions of national pride because of the industrial and scientific effort needed to achieve them. Sometimes they are also memorials to those who died in the course of ambitious space programmes. They also have another use. Studying these artefacts and sites helps researchers better understand how astronauts interact with new technology, adapt to new environments and develop new cultural practices. The conclusions of researchers can influence the design of future spacecraft and help future space missions succeed. Can a new generation of pioneering space archaeologists like Alice Gorman and Justin Walsh help save our space heritage for coming generations, and how might their work change space exploration in the future? On 15 January 2025, the World Monuments Fund's Watch List of 25 threatened heritage sites was released, surprising many by including the Moon, with a focus on the Apollo 11 landing site, in addition to the endangered sites on Earth. It is rather ironic then, that same day, Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lunar lander blasted off from Kennedy Space Center on board a SpaceX rocket to lay "the groundwork for the future of commercial exploration" of the Moon, according to the company. Firefly became the second commercial company to land without difficulty or damage on the Moon when Blue Ghost safely touched down around 30 miles (50 km) away from the site of the Nasa LCROSS impactor, 90 miles (150km) away from the Soviet Luna 24 probe site, and in the neighbouring lunar sea, vast plains of solidified lava, to where Neil Armstrong's footprints can be found. "We don't know yet how to physically operate on the Moon," says space archaeologist Justin Walsh, a professor at Chapman University in California. "Any mission that approaches or enters one of those historic sites is going to have consequences that we can't yet foresee. Whatever precautions we can take, we really must take to keep that damage to a minimum." But it isn't just sites on the Moon that experts are worried about. Elon Musk wants Nasa to deorbit and possibly destroy the historically significant International Space Station sooner than the space agency intends. "The window of time we must get procedures and protocols accepted by the international space community is closing," says Alice Gorman, a space archaeologist and associate professor at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia. Three years ago, Nasa astronaut Kayla Barron conducted the first ever archaeological fieldwork outside the Earth (and in zero gravity) while orbiting the planet at about a height of 250 miles (400km). On 14 January 2022, she used bright yellow adhesive tape to mark out the corners of 1 sq m (10.7 sq ft) on a science rack in a module of the ISS – like an archaeological trench – and repeated the process in five other locations, ranging from the galley to the toilet. Archaeology is a "dirt discipline", says Gorman in her book Dr Space Junk v The Universe. Archaeologists dig test pits to reveal a "snapshot" of a site's history. On a space station, that is impossible. Instead, Barron and her colleagues used digital cameras to photograph each square every day for 60 days. The goal of the exercise was to reveal how these spaces were being used, and how their use changed over time. "I was here in Los Angeles and Alice [Gorman] was in rural New South Wales in Australia, we were watching Kayla Barron put these pieces of tape out live on Microsoft Teams," says Walsh. "It was like our giant leap." Walsh and Gorman are leading the International Space Station Archaeological Project (Issap) a joint venture that marks "the first large-scale space archaeology project". Established in 2015, its goal is to study the crew of the ISS, to extend the discipline of archaeology into new worlds and even guide the development of long-duration space missions. "Space archaeology had always felt rather theoretical," says Walsh. "What would we do if we could go there? But digital technology has changed that. "There are many more photographs of the inside of the International Space Station (ISS) than of any previous space habitat because its inhabitation coincided with the growth in digital technology." Their analysis of these existing photographs of the ISS showed how astronauts personalised areas on the space station to create a visual display that expressed their identity. It showed how astronauts filled "empty space" with – for example – religious icons, mission patches, space heroes and even a geocaching tag, like a fridge door back on Earth. Last year, the importance of their work for space archaeology led to Walsh's and Gorman's inclusion in the Explorers Club 50 as two of "50 remarkable explorers" changing the world and extending the meaning of exploration. "We've actually been told by one of the companies designing a private space station that they used our research on how people adapt to living in space throughout the design of the interior of their space station," says Walsh. "That was incredibly gratifying to hear." For many, the fight to record and save our space heritage began when Beth O'Leary, archaeology professor emeritus at New Mexico State University in the US, published the Lunar Legacy Project (LLP) report in 2000. Its first goal was to treat the entire Moon like an archaeological site and map every single object left by humanity. But, according to O'Leary, this task proved too vast for its limited funding. "We estimated that at that time [around 2000] there was 100 metric tons of material on the Moon," says O'Leary. "I'd say it's in excess now of 400 metric tons and that's just a guesstimate. So, what is important? Which sites do you focus on? "We might have chosen the site of the Soviet Luna 2 probe because that was the first human artefact to land on the Moon. Instead, we picked Tranquillity Base because it was the first time humans had landed on another celestial body, and it has an international significance comparable to that of Stonehenge. "Unable to visit the Moon, we had to really dig in the archives to find out what was left on the lunar surface at Tranquillity Base." The project has found around 106 artefacts and features left there (a feature is an artefact that cannot be moved, such as each footprint). These include the mundane, such as sample scoops; the emotive, such as footprints; and the poignant – an Apollo 1 Mission patch. The three Apollo 1 crew were killed in 1967 when fire swept through their capsule while still on the launchpad at Cape Canaveral. There were also surprises. They discovered that medals from two cosmonauts, Vladimir Komarov and Yuri Gagarin, had been left there by the Apollo 11 astronauts. "Their widows had passed on the medals to the American astronauts at the height of the Space Race and the Cold War," O'Leary says. "It's very powerful, isn't it?" As the LLP website asks: "If this site is not protected, what will be left?" Space archaeology essentially involves applying archaeological methods and theories to everything related to the era of space exploration. This can range in time from the launch sites of the rockets tested just before World War Two to a present-day drone flying in the atmosphere of Mars. It can also include wider culture, such as the expression of ideas about rockets in children's toys. Rather than digging in the dirt with a trowel, space archaeologists more often sift through scientific papers or engineering plans. They look for evidence in remote sensing data, satellite images of landers on planet surfaces and space probes in orbit. "Space archaeology is about putting all this kind of data together and combining it, in a way that an engineer wouldn't, to say something new about an object," says Gorman. "What is the setting or the place of this artefact? How has it fared in that space environment? What does it look like? How would a person experience these kinds of things? "It's a bit counterintuitive because archaeology is such a physical discipline, that's part of what we all love about it, but we can't often do that." It is a natural progression to want to save what you have recorded. But is it real archaeology? "It's something people have trouble with," admits Gorman. "They say, 'how can this be archaeology?' It's too recent. But when does the past start? According to [science-fiction writer] Isaac Asimov, the past can start a millisecond ago." In 2010, Beth O'Leary and her colleagues succeeded in placing Tranquillity Base on the California and New Mexico state registers of cultural properties-resources because of the role these two states played in the space programme. Five years later, the International Space Station Archaeological Project was launched. Then space archaeology started to gain wider recognition. The job of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (Icomos) is to promote heritage conservation and advise the World Heritage Committee on sites to include on its list. The creation of the Icomos International Scientific Committeeon AeroSpace Heritage (ISCoAH) in 2023, which recognised the threat to archaeological sites on the Moon, "was huge" for the discipline, says space archaeologist Gai Jorayev, a senior research fellow at University College London, who is president of the committee. Among other subjects, Jorayev studies what he calls the "dark heritage" of the Soviet space programme, such as the people who sacrificed their lives building the Baikonur Cosmodrome in the former USSR. Many hope that the inclusion of the Moon on the World Monuments Fund's 2025 Watch list will lead to further progress, such as an internationally endorsed list of space heritage sites and a space heritage charter. "So, I would say we were only really, after 25 years, getting started," says Gorman. But the fate of historically significant spacecraft is even more uncertain. "There have been ideas of putting the most historically valuable objects into a stable museum orbit around the Earth that is relatively empty," says Walsh. "This could include Vanguard 1, the oldest object now in space." In January 2025, a paper suggested that Vanguard 1 should be brought back to Earth and exhibited in a museum. Similarly, it can be argued that the Hubble Space Telescope, which has transformed our understanding of the universe, and the International Space Station, the largest spacecraft ever built, should also be saved. Research suggests that up to 40% of the space station could survive re-entry. "We need to think better about end of life for these craft," he says. "If you can foresee that a mission is likely to be historic, then the preservation of the spacecraft should be part of the calculations." There is some good news in the battle to save the artefacts that tell the story of our species' journey into space. Archaeologist Thomas Penders can see the top of the Blue Origin rocket New Glenn from his archaeological laboratory at Cape Canaveral. "I can't be there when they're launching but I wish I could," he says. As cultural resources manager for the US Air Force/US Space Force at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Penders must balance the need for conservation with the needs of the growing commercial space industry. He looks after a 19,200 acre (7,800 hectre) area of Florida that encompasses what he calls the "most significant aspects of the US space programme's history and future ", including the hallowed ground of Cape Canaveral. Penders spends much of his time consulting with the State Historic Preservation Office on whether it's okay for these historic launch complexes to be reused. "Blue Origin has taken over Hangar S and they understand the significance of it," he says. "They've been very cooperative with us in maintaining the integrity of the building and hangar." Hangar S was the home of the United States's first human spaceflight programme, Project Mercury, and Blue Origin's rockets are named after famous Mercury astronauts. More like this:• The ocean grave for 264 spacecraft• The ambitious project to build a 'space museum' in orbit• A fiery end? How the ISS will die There are new archaeological discoveries as well. "A contractor working on the Blue Origin launch complex found missile parts and called me in," says Thomas Penders. "What I found is that in the '50s and '60s we were in such a race to develop rockets and put a man in space…missile parts were just thrown over the fence that surrounded the launch pad, and they were still there today." The commercialisation of space means this is a vital time to preserve space heritage. "These critical and extraordinary moments in the history of humanity deserve our attention, and they deserve a chance to exist into the future," says O'Leary. --
