Preserving Stories Carved in Time

CHALLENGE As a prehistoric site, the condition of the paintings is fading and deteriorating due to adverse weather conditions and human intervention. ASI is doing its best to pre serve the site but they were also looking for a solution to digitize and archive the site and ensure it is available to future generations. Introduced to ASI by The Indian Ambassador to Norway Dr. B.Bala Bhasker, Piql along with their plugin digi tization partners from Slovakia Studio 727 presented a solution to scan, digitize and archive the site. SOLUTION Piql along with its partner sent a team to digitize Bhimbhetka and it took over a week to scan the main areas of the 600 acre site. The processed data which has 3D Images, VR, Photographs, Videos, Geo Data points and other details will now be preserved on piqlFilm. Data stored here can last for centuries with guaranteed future accessibility. Ensuring that the valuable data stored is safely carried on into the distant future for the benefit of future generations.

The Bhimbhetka Rock shelter complex consists of some 700 shelters and is one of the largest repositories of prehistoric art in India. The shelters were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2003. The paintings, which display great vitality and narrative skill, are categorized into different prehistoric periods. The oldest is dated to the Late Paleolithic Period (Old Stone Age) and consists of large linear representations of rhinoceroses and bears. Paintings from Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) times are smaller and portray, in addition to animals, human activities. Drawings from the Chalcolithic Period (early Bronze Age) showcase the early humans’ concep tions of agriculture. Finally, the decorative paintings dating to The caves provide a rare glimpse at a sequence of cultural development from early nomadic hunter-gatherers to settled cultivators to expressions of spirituality. The 3D models, pictures, and videos of the site will offer great insight to future generations.and will be a very rich resource for research of millions of years of history and tracking the evolution of man over thousands of years.

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