ICOMOS thematic study and the Eastern Silk Roads

This paper is in four parts. The first introduces the ICOMOS Thematic Study of the Silk Roads (Williams, 2014) and explains the background, scope and approach to the study, and the resultant UNESCO Silk Roads serial and transnational World Heritage nomination strategy. The second part explores issues with the dissemination of data from the thematic study and other research projects, and the problems relating to developing an international trans-boundary research community. The third part briefly explores the nature of the Silk Routesin East Asia and raises some issues regarding the relationship between the land and maritime routes. The final part explores the implications for extending the Silk Roads nomination strategy into Eastern Asia, raises some heritage management issues and considers the question of whether to extend the thematic study

The conservation and management of archaeological sites: a twenty-year perspective

The past two decades have seen globalization, rapid societal change, significant global economic fluctuations, huge increases in tourism, and massive technological innovations. New approaches to the conservation and management of archaeological sites reflect the profession’s response to these conditions, as it considers the complexity of societal context; the range of values and rights involved in heritage decision-making; and technological, scientific, and traditional ways to document and sustain archaeological heritage. Nevertheless, despite recent advances in practice, archaeological sites face increasing challenges from development, climate change, tourism, insufficient management, looting, conflict, and inadequate governmental resources

Single-step fabrication of thin-film linear variable bandpass filters based on metal-insulator-metal geometry

A single-step fabrication method is presented for ultra-thin, linearly variable optical bandpass filters (LVBFs) based on a metal–insulator–metal arrangement using modified evaporation deposition techniques. This alternate process methodology offers reduced complexity and cost in comparison to conventional techniques for fabricating LVBFs. We are able to achieve linear variation of insulator thickness across a sample, by adjusting the geometrical parameters of a typical physical vapor deposition process. We demonstrate LVBFs with spectral selectivity from 400 to 850 nm based on Ag (25 nm) and MgF$_{2}$ (75–250 nm). Maximum spectral transmittance is measured at ∼70% with a $\textit{Q}$-factor of ∼20.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) (EP/L015455/1); Cambridge Commonwealth, European and International Trust

The Silk Roads: an ICOMOS thematic study

This study specifically aims to: Provide an analysis of sites along the Silk Roads that could be used by States Parties participating in the Serial transnational World Heritage nominations of the Silk Roads as a basis for comparative analyses when nominating serial properties; Profile the distribution and distinctiveness of Silk Roads sites in order to understand how sites are manifestations of the shifting systems of power and patronage that prevailed over time along the Silk Roads, in relation to the organisation of flourishing trade and the protection of trade routes; Define the distribution of Silk Roads sites, in order to understand: what sites are common to the whole extent of the Roads; what sites are specific to the whole Silk Roads or to certain parts of the Roads; what sites are unique or exceptional; which sites are plentiful and how their form varies in time and space; what sites are persistent over time; what sites reflect specific periods of history, power systems or cultural traditions; consider whether certain sections or corridors of the Silk Roads, through the assembly of sites within them, are distinctive from other sections of the Silk Roads, in terms of being manifestations of particular geo-cultural systems, and whether a case could be made for considering the Silk Roads as a collection of World Heritage properties, linked by a concept, instead of one single World Heritage serial property

Final Technical Report on the results of the UNESCO/Korean Funds-in-Trust Project: Support for the Preparation for the World Heritage Serial Nomination of the Silk Roads in South Asia, 2013-2016

Report of the activities undertaken during the UNESCO/Korean Funds-in-Trust Project Support for the Preparation for the World Heritage Serial Nomination of the Silk Roads in South Asia. The project aimed to provide assistance to begin the Silk Roads nomination process in South Asia, by help to develop sustainable capacity, to protect cultural heritage sites, and bring forward future serial trans-national Silk Roads nominations. Specifically, it aimed to: 1) introduce the concept of ‘corridors’, in line with the ICOMOS Silk Roads Thematic Study (Williams 2014), to the State Parties of Bhutan, China, India, and Nepal, and to take steps towards identifying potential corridors for future serial and transnational nomination projects in South Asia; 2) support the participating States Parties in updating their Tentative Lists to reflect the potential Silk Roads sites in their territory; 3) to develop the State Parties capacities for trans-boundary activities and promote collaboration between the four States Parties; 4) recognising the different state of preparation of the States Parties, and that the platform of information within each State Party varied widely, to further develop institutions within the States Parties to facilitate the coordination of national research, management, and nomination activities between different authorities; 5) develop capacity-building efforts tailored to the necessities of each State Party; 6) and through these processes, to contribute to the protection of key segments of these internationally significant cultural routes

Nomadic ecology shaped the highland geography of Asia's Silk Roads

There are many unanswered questions about the evolution of the ancient 'Silk Roads' across Asia. This is especially the case in their mountainous stretches, where harsh terrain is seen as an impediment to travel. Considering the ecology and mobility of inner Asian mountain pastoralists, we use ‘flow accumulation’ modelling to calculate the annual routes of nomadic societies (from 750 m to 4,000 m elevation). Aggregating 500 iterations of the model reveals a high-resolution flow network that simulates how centuries of seasonal nomadic herding could shape discrete routes of connectivity across the mountains of Asia. We then compare the locations of known high-elevation Silk Road sites with the geography of these optimized herding flows, and find a significant correspondence in mountainous regions. Thus, we argue that highland Silk Road networks (from 750 m to 4,000 m) emerged slowly in relation to long-established mobility patterns of nomadic herders in the mountains of inner Asia

Single-Step Fabrication of Multispectral Filter Arrays Using Grayscale Lithography and Metal-Insulator-Metal Geometry

© 2018 OSA. Metal-insulator-metal geometries can provide optical transmission filtering, with peak wavelength dependent on insulator thickness. Using grayscale electron beam lithography to control insulator thickness, we fabricate multispectral filter arrays, whereby dose determines wavelength