Major cultural sites caught in crossfire of Georgian conflict

Reports are beginning to hit the net about heritage sites that have been damaged or destroyed in the conflict between Georgia and Russia. Here is a rundown of a few of the items being discussed:

In his post Fog of war obscures state of cultural heritage sites in Georgia, Tom Flynn of the artknows blog, recounts what’s at stake–including three sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage List and fifteen more on the Tentative List. He references the ICOMOS, (the International Council on Monuments and Sites), website, which states “the entire cultural heritage of Georgia is endangered,” and recounts a preliminary report prepared by ICOMOS Georgia  regarding the shelling of a sixth-century Ateni Sioni Church, where affiliated professionals were working. Casualties in the heritage preservation field are being reported as well. Among the points Flynn presents in his long investigative piece:

• Approximately 345 registered historical monuments and archaeological sites are located within the main conflict zones
• The ICOMOS draft reports concern over news of rockets being fired into the Uphlistsikhe rock-cut city (5th-century BC-7th century), a site on the World Heritage Tentative List
• Reports of looting of the 11th-century Samtavisi Cathedral (another candidate for inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List)
• The International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) has issued a ‘Watch List’ of “Georgian museums in uncertain conditions situated in regions occupied by the Russian Army.
• The villages of Tamarasheni and Qurta were destroyed and possibly the buildings of the museums as well

Meanwhile, the Russian non-governmental news agency Interfax, based in Moscow, reports that Georgian fire destroyed many cultural monuments in South Ossetia. Among the monuments in question were 19th century cathedrals and architectural memorials dating to the eighth and ninth centuries. The article quotes Alexander Kibovsky, head of Federal Service for law observance supervision in the field of protection of cultural heritage as saying:

“When Georgian forces intruded to South Ossetia all mentioned monuments were destroyed or suffered a great loss because of their barbarian operations.”

The impact of the war on a team of archaeologists from the University of Winchester’s Department of Archaeology is discussed in the post Archaeological excavation affected by war in Georgia from the BAJR Blog. The team was on an expedition with Georgian colleagues to excavate a rural site shortly before the hostilities began. All of the British team, which included 10 students from universities across the UK and seven experienced archaeological and specialist staff, were able to return home the day before the conflict began. The University of Winchester had been forging ties with the Georgian Archaeology Commission to strengthen archaeology courses at Georgian universities. The expedition’s co-director, Dr. Paul Everill is quoted as saying: