Virtual Cilicia Project: Digital Globes for Communicating Digital Archaeological Heritage
Susanne Rutishauser, Ralph Rosenbauer, Tim Arni, Fabienne Kilchör, Alexander Sollee
Abstract Surrounded by the Taurus and Amanus mountain ranges, the fertile alluvial plain of Cilicia Pedias in modern Turkey is a true treasury of important monuments from numerous ages. Hittite and Assyrian rock reliefs serve as representations of power at this connection between Anatolia and the Levant. Since it relies on Google Earth, the Virtual Cilicia Project is able to show these monuments as well as the ruins of Bronze and Iron Age settlements like e.g. Karatepe with its world-famous carved orthostats in their natural environments.
To visualize the development of this region during different epochs and to provide a better understanding for laypersons, new approaches are necessary. Virtual globes give users the chance to interactively explore different sites and the interplay between environment and settlement patters. Since Google Earth uses KML 2.2, an open standard XML notation, it is simple to add one‘s own content. In addition, KML became an increasingly common standard within geographic information systems and online tools, therefore becoming a well-documented future-proof solution. The integration of a timeline directly into Google Earth makes it a perfect instrument for the visualization of historical developments.
The Virtual Cilicia Project’s goal is to document the vast diversity of Cilicia’s history and to present this cultural heritage in the context of its ancient and modern landscape to the expert and the layman.
