Cultural heritage

About: Cultural heritage is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 28201 publications have been published within this topic receiving 273875 citations. The topic is also known as: cultural assets & cultural goods.

In one's own shadow : an ethnographic account of the condition of post-reform rural China

Abstract: China underwent a dramatic social transformation in the last decade of the twentieth century. This powerful ethnographic study of one community focuses on the logic of everyday practice in post-reform rural China. Enriched with many vivid anecdotes describing life in the village of Zhaojiahe in northwestern China, "In One's Own Shadow" skillfully analyzes the changes and continuities marking the recent history of this region and highlights the broader implications for the way we understand Chinese modernity. Liu's narrative provides a wonderfully evocative exploration of many domains of everyday life such as kinship and marriage traditions, food systems, ceremonial celebrations, social relations, and village politics. He brings to life many of the personalities and customs of Zhaojiahe as he presents the villagers' strategies to modernize in an environment of scarce resources and a discredited cultural heritage. This accessibly written ethnography will be an essential contribution to the anthropology of China.

Remote monitoring of buildings using a ground-based SAR: application to cultural heritage survey

Abstract: In this Letter, the authors describe an innovative application of radar interferometric techniques aimed to monitor structural deformations of buildings. The proposed application is based on the use of ground-based instrumentation able to operate as Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR). Preliminary experimental results on a model of an historical building encourage the development of this technique for use in architectural heritage survey.

Building Stone Decay: From Diagnosis to Conservation

Abstract: Stone buildings and monuments from the cultural centres of many of the world's urban areas. Frequently these areas are prone to high levels of atmospheric pollution that promote a variety of aggressive stone decay processes. Because of this, stone decay is now widely recognized as a severe threat to much of our cultural heritage. If this threat is to be successfully addressed it is essential that the symptoms of decay are clearly identified, that appropriate stone properties are accurately characterized and that decay processes are precisely identified. It is undoubtedly the case that successful conservation has to be underpinned by a comprehensive understanding of the causes of decay and the factors that control them. The accomplishment of these demanding goals requires an interdisciplinary approach based on co-operation between geologists, environmental scientists, chemists, material scientists, civil engineers, restorers and architects. In pursuit of this collaboration, this volume aims to strengthen the knowledge base dealing with the causes, consequences, prevention and solution of stone decay problems.