The Elephanta Caves: Avenues for Their Future Preservation in Digital Preservation and Public Outreach

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In this study, I examine how the Elephanta Caves (500 C.E. - 900 C.E.), off the coast of Mumbai, in the Indian state of Maharashtra, can best be preserved in the future. These man-made caves were a place of Shiva and goddess-worship for local Hindus, up until Portuguese contact and occupation in AD 1534-35. Interest in this topic stems from the caves’ exposure to destructive forces in the past and present, which are directly and indirectly man-made. Some of these include its location along a fault, pollution from the Mumbai metropolis, tourist traffic, as well as past damage from colonial occupation. I focus specifically on how digital forms of preservation can aid in preserving the integrity of the cave’s structure and relief carvings, as well as how tapping into public interest as a resource can help to grow public knowledge as well as garner more extensive protection for this UNESCO World Heritage site. Furthermore the research is a demonstration of the potential of reconstructive drawings in preserving a site as well as helping to create a visualization to place the viewer more perfectly within the time and place the caves occupied in history.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24173