Nov 21, 2009 10:53 pm US/Pacific
Archaeologists Create Online Map Of The Holy Land
LOS ANGELES
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Archaeologists from USC, UCLA and the Middle East have developed a searchable online map that details 7,000 archeological sites in the Holy Land.
CBS
Archaeologists from USC, UCLA and the Middle East have developed a searchable online map that details 7,000 archeological sites in the Holy Land, a list that may become important in political line-drawing, it was reported today.
The map was compiled over several years through hundreds of hours of research, bolstered by freedom of information requests -- and when necessary a lawsuit in Israeli courts. Researched said the Web site provides interactive satellite maps showing locations of about 7,000 archeological sites on the West Bank and Jerusalem.
The map is hosted on USC's Digital Library and uses a searchable Google Map portal.
"This is a significance of making this data public should not be underestimated," said Ran Boytner, director of International Research at the Cotsen Institute of Archeology at UCLA. "For the first time, both Palestinians and Israelis can dynamically consult this interactive map and view what cultural heritage will fall under the sovereign rule of each side during final peace negotiations."
Boytner and Lynn Swartz Dodd of USC invited Israeli and Palestinian archaeologists in 2005 to engage in a dialogue about archaeology. This led to a research effort to identify Israeli archeological activity since 1967, when Israel took over the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Officials said the USC Web site is a part of a larger effort to devise a framework for the disposition of the region's archaeological treasures in the event of a two-state peace agreement.
Rafi Greenberg, a senior lecturer in archaeology at Tel Aviv University, and Adi Keinan, formerly of Tel Avi University and now a doctoral student at University College London, did much of the research for the Web maps now available at USC.
For their efforts the archaeologists were awarded Friday the 2009 Open Archaeology Prize from the American Schools of Oriental Research, the main organization for archaeologists working in the Middle East.
The map can be accessed at
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/wbarc.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
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