2 results
Foreword
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- By Frank Boochs
- Edited by Anna Bentkowska-Kafel, Lindsay MacDonald
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- Book:
- Digital Techniques for Documenting and Preserving Cultural Heritage
- Published by:
- Amsterdam University Press
- Published online:
- 26 January 2021
- Print publication:
- 08 January 2018, pp xxxi-xxxii
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- Chapter
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Summary
COSCH stands for Colour and Space in Cultural Heritage and represents four years of networking activities of scientists and researchers from other disciplines from twenty-eight European countries. They share a dedication to improving the understanding of optical measurement techniques, applied to various tasks in documentation of material cultural heritage. The COSCH network benefited from the support and funding of the European Cooperation in Science and Technology, commonly known as COST. COST was founded in 1971 as an intergovernmental framework for cooperation in science and technology and is one of the oldest European bodies funding networking in these areas. Cooperation is implemented through the so-called Actions, such as COSCH. A COST Action provides a platform for dialogue and exchange of interdisciplinary knowledge amongst researchers from different academic disciplines, as well as industry and commercial research laboratories.
COST Actions have a funding period of four years. The funding covers networking activities, mainly the cost of organizing and travelling to meetings, conferences, and workshops. Financial support is also available for research exchange visits (so-called Short-term Scientific Missions, or STSMs), training schools, publications, and other dissemination activities. Personnel costs cannot be funded, which distinguishes COST Actions from research projects supported through the framework programmes of the European Union, such as Horizon 2020 and the earlier 7th Framework Programme (FP7) for Research and Technological Development. The networking character of COST Actions is paramount. Despite the lack of research funding, COST Actions have nonetheless a clear scientific focus that guides work conducted in the course of all activities. COST takes a bottom-up approach to the selection of proposals for funding: any kind of scientific objectives held by an international group of researchers may compete for support, if it fits within the COST implementation rules. When accepted, a proposal is transformed into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and is signed by all participating countries. This document defines the objectives, programme of work, its mile-stones and measures to be implemented by the Action. The summary of the COSCH MoU (2012, p. 3) reads:
True, precise and complete documentation of artefacts is essential for conservation and preservation of our cultural heritage (CH). By ensuring access to the best possible documentation of artefacts we are contributing to the enhanced understanding of material CH and help its long-term preservation.
3D Sutra: Processing of Scanned Sutra Inscriptions in China for Analysis, Interpretation and Visualization
- Edited by Mingquan Zhou
- Iza Romanowska, Zhongke Wu, Pengfei Xu, Philip Verhagen
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- Book:
- Revive the Past
- Published by:
- Amsterdam University Press
- Published online:
- 23 June 2021
- Print publication:
- 17 August 2012, pp 81-91
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Summary
Abstract:
The 8th-century Buddhist stone inscriptions from Sichuan province, China, are important cultural assets, which cast a new light on the history of Buddhism in China, their adaptation to Chinese culture, as well as the confrontation of the Buddhist religion with the secular state. Thus, these stone inscriptions need to be documented, analysed, interpreted and visualized archaeologically, art-historically and textscientifically. On this basis, new archaeological and art-historical knowledge is gained through technical research which, for the first time, results in innovative techniques of measurement and geoinformatics. Thereby, particularly accurate and objective techniques are of great importance as they document the texts in their spatial context and make them available for transcription and different analysis. In this article, innovative approaches are shown which enable the visualization of the inscriptions and the results of their interpretation, combined with additional 2D/3D maps within an interactive web portal.
Key Words: Sutra, 3D Scanning, Image Processing, Matching, Web Portal
Introduction
Buddhism has greatly influenced the historical and cultural development of East Asian countries, especially China, thus its growth and dissemination needs to be investigated. Buddhism was introduced to China at the beginning of the current era, but spread slowly owing to the lack of a written tradition of its teachings. While a variety of Buddhist teachings were passed on by word of mouth at a very early age, the writing down of them began much later. The Diamond Sutra, for example, was created in the first century AD and found a wide dissemination initially by a verbal then written tradition. However, the first reproduced traditions of this sutra, which were created by using wood panel printing, date back to AD 868.
Prior to the conservation and reproduction of the sutras by printing techniques, the inscriptions were carved into stone by Buddhist monks, in order to ensure permanent conservation of the sutras. Such stone inscriptions can be found in Sichuan province (China), where 80 sutras with more than 600,000 characters are located at approximately 6 different sites. The most important archaeological site is Wofoyuan, which contains 400,000 characters spread through 15 caves and a large reclining Buddha figure after which this site is named. All these stone inscriptions, dating from the 8th–12th century AD, are of great importance because they provide profound insights into the history of Buddhism and Buddhist teachings and thus into the cultural development of China (Ledderose 2006).