{"id":74042,"date":"2022-01-04T14:29:52","date_gmt":"2022-01-04T13:29:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/icac.cat\/?p=74042"},"modified":"2022-01-04T16:10:24","modified_gmt":"2022-01-04T15:10:24","slug":"heritage-at-risk-remote-and-ground-monitoring-of-endangered-heritage-in-la-palma-volcano-eruption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/icac.cat\/en\/actualitat\/noticies\/2022\/heritage-at-risk-remote-and-ground-monitoring-of-endangered-heritage-in-la-palma-volcano-eruption\/","title":{"rendered":"Heritage at risk: remote and ground monitoring of endangered heritage in La Palma volcano eruption"},"content":{"rendered":"

During the past two months, a research team coordinated by Francesc C. Conesa<\/strong><\/a> (GIAP<\/a>-ICAC) and Nuria \u00c1lvarez (Benahoarita Archaeological Museum, MaB<\/a>) have been closely monitoring the ongoing volcano eruption at La Palma island in the Canary Islands.<\/p>\n

The team has accessed and surveyed the exclusion area next to the lava flows to map and document Cultural Heritage at risk of disappearing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The eruptive activity began on the 19th of September 2021 in an area locally known as Cabeza de Vaca<\/em> in the western part of the Cumbre Vieja volcanic ridge and expanded north and south of the Aridane Valley. At present, the eruptive activity has finally stopped but it is still considered active, and so far, the emerging lava flows have covered over 1200 hectares<\/strong> and destroyed more than 1600 buildings and related infrastructures such as roads and agricultural lands.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The team has mapped and surveyed the historical-cultural landscapes within the boundaries of the lava flows as they were expanding towards the north and south of the Aridane Valley. Photo: Francesc C. Conesa<\/a> (GIAP, ICAC).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The three municipalities that have been under red warning and that were partially evacuated (Los Llanos, El Paso, and Tazacorte) have a rooted history of agro-pastoral land use and their cultural landscapes reflect the indigenous, historical, and more recent history of La Palma, ranging from pastoral lands to heavily anthropized agricultural plots dotted with hundreds of traditional Canarian housing.<\/p>\n

However, as Conesa<\/a> explains, \u201ceven though this is perhaps one of the most surveilled volcanic eruptions in recent times, little was known about the loss or potential loss of archaeological and ethnographic features and historical buildings<\/strong>, as the region had only limited or partial heritage inventories\u201d.<\/p>\n

“We urgently needed a rapid mechanism to systematically monitor the lava flows and the heavy ash deposition that threatened the visibility and preservation of known archaeological and historical sites\u201d, Francesc C. Conesa<\/a> continues.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To do so, the team uses legacy geospatial data, ranging from historical aerial imagery, toponymy, and cartography that predates the eruptive event to map the historical landscapes of the Aridane Valley even if many areas have already been lost.<\/p>\n

Learn more details about these works in a Twitter thread posted by the GIAP researcher Francesc C. Conesa, where he explains how a group of archaeologists has continued to work within the La Palma volcano exclusion zone to document the cultural heritage threatened by lava flows and ash<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

\n

Ahora que el volc\u00e1n de La Palma descansa, os contamos…<\/p>\n

… c\u00f3mo un grupo de arque\u00f3logos contin\u00faa trabajando dentro de la zona de exclusi\u00f3n para documentar el Patrimonio Cultural amenazado por las coladas y la ceniza.<\/p>\n

Con @GIAP_ICAC<\/a> @invest_ull<\/a> @IslasDeCultura<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2b07\ufe0f Hilo \ud83e\uddf5 pic.twitter.com\/fFmKsJTC6R<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Francesc C. Conesa (@fc_conesa) December 22, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n