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This chapter aims to highlight the unique sculptures on the walls of Bishnupur’s terracotta temples in West Bengal, depicting the culture in the Indian epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata. These temples, representing the socio-religio, politico-economic situation of sixteenth- to nineteenth-century Hindu Kingdoms, are constructed with bricks, unlike others that are erected from stone. While the walls are decorated with terracotta plates narrating stories from the epics (similar to that of Angkor-Wat) and Puranas, the artisans of these terracotta temples preferred to follow the legends of Ramer Panchali, the Bengali version of Ramayana, by Krittivas Ojha, and Kashidasi Mahabharata, the Bengali version of Mahabharata, by Kashiram Das. Most of these epic ornamentations are found in the Shyam-Rai Temple (1643), built by Malla King Raghunath-Singha; in Kesta-Rai Temple, or Jor-bangla (1655), erected by Raghunath-Singha-II; and in Madan Mohan Temple (1694), constructed by Durjana-Singh-Deva. Some of the temple roofs are modelled in typical characteristic structure of thatched Bengali village huts, Chala, which are considered indigenous to Bengal and are designated as ‘Bangla Mandir.’ This chapter attempts to understand why the artisans had chosen the ancient Indian literatures and, through the form of visual illustrations, demonstrated the characteristic of terracotta art and architecture, and what their influences on modern art are. Further, it will be illustrated how their endeavours shaped the society of Malla era. Not only does this chapter investigate and analyse these issues, but also argues and evaluates the religio-political and socio-cultural influence of the independent Hindu Malla kings on art and culture of those days.

In the field of an industrial research program between the ‘Mediterranean’ University and the Naos Consulting’s company, we developed the V.I.S.A. project, Visualizing Innovative and Social Artworks, through which we tried to create a new model of museum, called the 3.0. Museum, embracing the challenge thrown by the MIBACT to increase the performances of the Italian museums by means of the use of the digital ICT. In addition, we consciously tried to reinforce the technological communication for the Cultural Heritage’s fruition and enhancement. The research is focused on the study and the analysis of a wide repertoire of terracotta’s vases, red-figure and black-figure vase painting, discovered in the Magna-Graecia’s area. These finds cover a temporal line that goes from the VI century BC to the IV century BC, structured in different typologies: craters, amphoras, lekanes, dynoi, kantharoi, hydriae, etc. Here, we present, for the first time ever, a research that starts from the photogrammetric survey of very ancient potteries, characterized by a double and triple curvature. Once we analysed the geometry of the models, we unwrapped the surfaces of the vases, normalizing the figures and calculating their deformations. After that, thanks to the archaeologist’s support, we modelled the 3D scene, developing a digital segmentation of the space. Thanks to this methodology, it is possible to understand better the scenes, enriching the ‘silent’ finds and giving a new way to enhance the Cultural Heritage, though a semantic and a more communicative dissemination.

The first sacred landscape of imperial China, the gigantic Mausoleum of the first Emperor Shihuang, is described with a particular attention to the cognitive aspects. In particular, the Terracotta Warriors are framed within the general, symbolic significance of the complex.

New data on investigations of different formations on the natural and architectural objects are presented. The purpose of our research is to identify the structure, the mineral composition and reasons of the new formations and deposits on various natural and artificial materials of monuments of cultural heritage. The complex of analytical methods was used: optical microscopy, electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Crusts and incrustation on the following objects are represented: rock art (“patina” of petroglyphs on metamorphic rocks), on alkali rocks in Siberia (Sangilen, Batagol); on granite facing stones and statues in urban environment (Kamenny and Moskvoresky Bridges and others, pedestals of sculptures); on limestone blocks of white stone and cast iron floor plates at the Yur’ev-Polskoy Cathedrals, terracotta and glazed ceramic products. The new formations are the result of a complex of reasons: seasonal development of biota, interaction of microbial communities, chemical oxidation, fluctuations in temperature and humidity and gas conditions, both general and local, associated with anthropogenic factors. All this determines the morphology, structure, texture and chemical composition of the local formation of the material. Limestones and marble are subject to the greatest biogenic destruction, and irrigated ceramic products are the least affected.

In the last ten years, 3D technologies have proliferated in archaeology with multiple applications, both in the field and the lab. The pace of development is very rapid and constitutes a paradigm shift. 3D modeling is becoming an indispensable tool and is transforming the field. So far, analysis of artifacts has relied on direct physical access to objects, 2D representations (photographs and drawings), and written descriptions. However, the growing popularity of 3D technology has established that a 3D model of an artifact provides a superior record, compared to 2D products. The 3D model closely approximates the experience of the original (Payne in Necrocorinthia. A study of Corinthian Art in the Archaic period, Oxford, [1]). High-fidelity 3D digital artifacts can bridge the gap in quality of data available to researchers. Also, they can be disseminated widely, which facilitates and encourages scholarly collaboration. Here, we will explore the application of 3D modeling to a particular category of artifacts, terracotta figurines of the Archaic period (7th–6th centuries BCE) from the site of Plakomenos, in Greece.

Chinese ways of organizing and exploiting landscape park areas, particularly those of historical importance are specific, due to the contemporary overexploitation of these sites. Historic landscape Park of Quin Shi Huang, contains the world-famous “Terracotta Army”. Such a tourist attraction demands organization of access and traffic on an archaeological site and throughout the immense landscape park. The administration of Panjin Park in the Liaoning Province acts to extend the tourist season beyond August/September, when Suaeda Salsa is in bloom and the “Red Beach” attracts millions of visitors. The ideas of spreading tourist goals beyond icons of nature and history and directing them towards rural culture are the most challenging. Eco-farmsteads with animals and traditional crops from orchards, vegetable plots and fields are viewed as an attraction by people who never experienced village life. Research methods employed in the paper include on-site visits, review of literature, conference papers and related PhD dissertation.

In the 1870s the architect Sir George Gilbert Scott was appointed Surveyor to the Fabric at Westminster Abbey and one of his major initiatives was to restore the Cosmati Pavement in the Sanctuary. Originally commissioned by Henry III in the late 14th Century, this luxury pavement employed the Cosmatesque technique with materials and possibly artisans imported from Rome. As such, this pavement is the only remaining example if this type north of the Alps, and is one of the very few examples which retains much of its original mortars. These original mortars were developed to cope with the damp conditions of the Thames riverbank and are hydraulic limes which use crushed terracotta as a pozzolana. During the restoration in the 1870s, Gilbert-Scott attempted to replicate the appearance of these materials whilst using contemporary Portland cement mixes with a series of special additives. This paper presents a textural and petrological study, using optical polarising light microscopy, and compares the compositions and manufacturing technologies of the original 14th Century mortars with those of the 19th Century restorations.

Pits are common features at sites of the Nok Culture, which is known for its masterful terracotta sculptures and for early iron metallurgy in sub-Saharan Africa. If pits are stratified and well-dated, contained archaeological charcoal may serve as a proxy for vegetation change—especially for changes mediated by human impact. Recent investigations into charcoal samples from several pits at Pangwari, a Nok site that has been—not necessarily continuously—in use during the last 1.5 millennia BC, revealed that the taphonomy of these assemblages is not as straightforward as expected. Find distribution analysis documents that regularly only the lowermost parts of the pits are still in their original state. Later re-working of the original pit filling, erosion, and recent illicit digging for terracotta figurines challenge the interpretation of the charcoal data. Moreover, the distribution of 14C dates and of potsherds assigned to different pottery groups, as well as differences in the charcoal assemblages of some pits, hint towards divergent backfill histories. Some pits seem to have been refilled quite quickly, possibly even in a single event, while other pits might have remained open for a longer time. Additionally, pits likely were reused in later phases and the infill became mixed. For charcoal analysis, it is hence crucial to consider the backfill history of each pit based on the archaeological evidence.

This paper focuses on the ongoing research of terracotta figurines using a 3D modeling method, laser scanning. The aim is to explore the contribution of 3D technology to the study and dissemination of this particular group of archaeological material. This is a pilot project and it concerns a small selection of figurines from the site of Plakomenos, in Corinthia, Greece. The site was excavated in 2003, by the Archaeological Ephoreia of Corinthia, and brought to light a large number of finds that belong to the archaic period (7th - 6th centuries BCE). Here, we provide a summary of current efforts to digitize the collection using 3D technology and develop a digital database/library to enhance research, dissemination and preservation of this significant collection.

After a horrific rise in looting at archaeological sites near Jenne-jeno (Mali, West Africa; looting to feed the illicit international traffic in terracotta statuettes) that began in the late 1970s, looting essentially came to a complete halt by, roughly, 1995. That success was due to a concentrated effort of local public education and site monitoring (by the Ministry of Culture’s Jenne Mission Culturelle), to the government’s efforts to interdict objects leaving the country (orchestrated by the National Museum and by the principal heritage protection agency, the Direction National des Arts et de la Culture (DNAC)), as well as due to the effects of the Mali–US bilateral protection accord (initiated in 1993). Since 1995, periodic survey circuits of the several hundred archaeological sites within, roughly, a 40 km radius of Jenne show negligible evidence of renewed looting. This would seem to be the cause for celebration. Yet in sworn testimony before the State Department’s Cultural Property Advisory Committee in 2012, art/antiquities dealers and museum directors argued that the Mali–US bilateral accord had failed. What is at the root of this massive “cognitive dissonance”?