Scots team face one well of a challenge

Now a team of Scottish conservationists are being despatched to India to uncover the secrets of an abandoned jungle temple.

The joint team from Historic Scotland and Glasgow School of Art will this week fly out to the province of Gujarat to create a digital "map" of the Rani ki Vav Stepwell, built almost 1,000 years ago in northern India.

Built from sandstone, the vast, ornately carved structure - also known as the Queen's Stepwell - from India's pre-colonial period is at risk from erosion caused by rainwater pouring down its walls.

The Scottish team will be using laser technology to digitally record the structure's surfaces to create a permanent record for conservation purposes.

It is part of the Scottish Ten project, aimed at scanning five national and five international heritage sites to create a digital record for future generations.

The well dates back to 1050AD and consists of stepped terraces descending into the ground and adorned with around 400 sculptures representing Hindu themes.

It is widely accepted that the well - six storeys deep - was built in the memory of a local ruler by his widowed queen.

David Mitchell, the director of Historic Scotland's Conservation Group, said the well site had been excavated during the 1960s, having been almost submerged under silt. However, having uncovered the site, it became exposed to the effects of acid rain, which threatened to erode the carved terraces.

Mitchell said: "People think that monuments are going to be there forever, but in nature things erode, things decay, just at different rates."

Initial reconnaissance has already been carried out by the team on the well, which is one of the largest and finest of its type. It is currently on the UNESCO "tentative" list to be considered for World Heritage Site status, and it is hoped that digital documentation will enhance its case.

Doug Pritchard, of the Digital Design Studio at The Glasgow School of Art, said: "The Queen's Stepwell clearly illustrates the sophistication and magnificence of Indian culture and I hope we will be able to assist in conserving this structure for future generations.

"The team were amazed by the beauty and elegance of the site which, with its highly detailed sculptures and various levels, will present a real challenge to our technology and technical abilities."

Such is the pioneering nature of the work that the Scottish team have had to improvise solutions to sending the delicate laser scanner down the well.

Lyn Wilson, the Scottish Ten project manager, said: "3D scanning of Rani ki Vav will present our team with unique technological challenges we have not faced on previous Scottish Ten sites.

"The most significant of these will be the scanning of the six-storey well itself, which still contains water, and the accurate 3D documentation of the hundreds of intricate carvings which adorn the site across multiple levels.

"However, we have developed new equipment and methodologies specifically to address these challenges and are confident we will be able to achieve our on-site goals."

The team has previously worked on sites such as Mount Rushmore, in South Dakota, the site of giant carved statues of the heads and upper bodies of four US presidents, Celtic crosses in Orkney and Victorian mills in New Lanark.

"On Rushmore we had to work with the National Park Service, who abseiled with the scanners which need to be very steady to give accurate readings," Wilson said. "This time around we will be extending a counter-balanced arm from the top of the stepwell and lowering the scanners from that. In retrospect, New Lanark and Orkney were relatively straightforward."

The project has already produced fascinating insights, revealing detail previously indiscernible because of erosion. One of the most startling discoveries was lost detail of the hands of President Lincoln at the Rushmore carvings.

The scanning of the well site is expected to take between two and three weeks, with a digital map produced later this year.

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