The Symposium on “Project on Archaeological Sites, Relics and Landscapes in Central Asia” , jointly organized by the International Institute for University College London (UCL) and Central Asia Studies (IICAS), a secondary research institution under the UNESCO, was held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, from 19 to 24 May 2019. The seminar invited representatives of the Ministry of Culture of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and the Of fice of UNESCO, IICC-X, as well as international experts in archaeology, documentation and other relevant fields. Also present at the meeting were representatives of the School of Cultural Heritage of Northwest University, China. Supported by a five-year special fund from the ARCADIA Charitable Foundation, the project of “Central Asian Archaeological Landscape (CAAL)” was jointly carried out by the UCL team, in cooperation with IICAS and Northwest University with Tim Williams, a senior professor at the UCL Institute of Archaeology and an expert on the nomination of the Silk Roads i n the World Heritage in ICOMOS, as the project leader. The project aimed to establish a database of immovable ancient heritage & sites in Central Asia based on the Arches platform and to encourage and facilitate the provision of data resources to the platform through international cooperation in the Central Asian region. The purpose of the meeting was to introduce to representatives and partners of the Central Asian region, relevant experts and institutions the basic structure, functions and construction of the database, as well as the division of labour and results of the pr oject team. At the same time, it orga - nized on-site demonstration and online operation to enhance the understanding of the use of the database, and lay a good foundation for the next step of work. |