The Scottish Ten was a five-year project, initiated in 2009, funded by the Scottish Government. It used technology to create accurate digital models of the country's five World Heritage Sites and five other

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

s elsewhere in the world.

History

The Scottish Ten was initiated by the

Minister for Culture, External Affairs and the Constitution The Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Fair Work and Culture, commonly referred to as the Economy Secretary or the Culture Secretary, was a Scottish Government Cabinet position with responsibility for the economy and culture of Scotland. The role w ...

Michael Russell in early 2009, at the

Glasgow School of Art The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; gd, Sgoil-ealain Ghlaschu) is a higher education art school based in Glasgow, Scotland, offering undergraduate degrees, post-graduate awards (both taught and research-led), and PhDs in architecture, fine art, an ...

’s Digital Documentation conference. The minister had heard Ben Kacyra, father of the laser scanner and founder of

CyArk CyArk (from "cyber archive") is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization located in Oakland, California, United States founded in 2003. CyArk's mission is to "digitally record, archive and share the world's most significant cultural heritage and ensure ...

, speak about his mission to digitally document the 500 most at risk heritage sites across the world over the next five years. The minister found inspiration in this project and discussion began as to how Scotland could be involved. The Scottish Ten was formally announced at the

Mount Rushmore National Memorial Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a national memorial centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore (Lakota: ''Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe'', or Six Grandfathers) in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dakota ...

on 4 July 2009.

About the Scottish Ten

The Scottish Ten project's primary aims were to: * Record important historical sites for the benefit of future generations in Scotland and overseas * Share and disseminate Scottish technical expertise and foster international collaboration * Provide digital media to site managers to better care for the heritage resource * Recognise international Scottish cultural connections Led by

Historic Scotland Historic Scotland ( gd, Alba Aosmhor) was an executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage, and promoting its understanding and enjoyment ...

and its partner Glasgow School of Art, under their collaborative venture The Centre for Digital Documentation and Visualisation LLP, the Scottish Ten project created digital documentation of the sites for future development of world class and innovative research, education and management. The project scanned the five UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Scotland. The overseas sites were selected to fulfil Scottish Government International objectives in Australia, China, India, Japan and the United States. The 18th century cotton-manufacturing settlement at

New Lanark New Lanark is a village on the River Clyde, approximately 1.4 miles (2.2 kilometres) from Lanark, in Lanarkshire, and some southeast of Glasgow, Scotland. It was founded in 1785 and opened in 1786 by David Dale, who built cotton mills and hou ...

was the first Scottish site to be scanned. Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, in the United States, was scanned in August 2009. The project used highly precise, high speed terrestrial laser scanning systems, some capable of sub-millimetre data capture and aerial optical remote sensing technology called LIDAR (Light Detection And Ranging). When the digital models were complete, they were hosted by

, a non-profit organisation set up to digitally record heritage sites across the globe and provide public access to the information.

Sites

The five Scottish

s are: * Antonine Wall *

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

* Neolithic Orkney *

* St. Kilda The five non-Scottish UNESCO World Heritage Sites are: * Eastern Qing Tombs (China) * Giant Cantilever Crane at

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole Nanban trade, port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hi ...

(Japan) *

Mount Rushmore Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a national memorial centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore (Lakota: ''Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe'', or Six Grandfathers) in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dakot ...

(USA) * Rani ki vav (India) * Sydney Opera House (Australia)

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.scottishten.org
Gsa.ac.uk/dds

CyArk website
* 2009 establishments in Scotland Organisations supported by the Scottish Government