The UNESCO World Heritage List is possibly the best known list, of anything, anywhere on Earth. One of UNESCO's core projects, it is intended to identify and safeguard the world's natural and cultural treasures. Listing by UNESCO is the ambition of many sites, large and small, around the world because it not only brings prestige and tourist dollars, but it also brings with it the clout of UNESCO and and expertise in the preservation and conservation of sites.
Submitted by Sean Williams on Thu, 08/27/2009 - 13:34
A pioneering Scots team could be the answers to saving some of the world's greatest historical monuments. The six-strong group from Historic Scotland and the Glasgow School of Art are making waves across the world, as they use cutting-edge laser technology to map world heritage sites across the globe. First up on the team's list will be Mount Rushmore, in South Dakota, USA. And the group are confident they can use their American-made CyArk 500 scanner to model the carved faces of former presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln to within 3mm. The subsequent models could then be used to help archaeologist rebuild the famous faces, should they fall victim to any further erosion of the granite rockface in which they are set.
Angkor Wat is the best-preserved temple at this significant site and the only one to have remained in religious use, now providing a base for Buddhist worship in the area. Epitomising the high classical style of Khmer architecture, the temple is a symbol of Cambodia for many. It appears on the national flag and is the country's leading tourist attraction.
Oriented to the west, unlike most other Angkorian temples, Angkor Wat was built to represent Mount Meru, the mythological home of the Hindu devas. Its key features include its moat, outer wall and three rectangular galleries, each higher than the other. No inscriptions or stela survive from the original construction phase; what is known has been pieced together through archaeological finds and carbon dating.
The UNESCO World Heritage List is possibly the best known list, of anything, anywhere on Earth. One of UNESCO's core projects, it is intended to identify and safeguard the world's natural and cultural treasures. Listing by UNESCO is the ambition of many sites, large and small, around the world because it not only brings prestige and tourist dollars, but it also brings with it the clout of UNESCO and and expertise in the preservation and conservation of sites. 
