The Alexandria Project
The Lower Pecos Canyonlands holds a vast Archaic library. Shumla has a plan to preserve it. We call it the Alexandria Project.
The Library of Alexandria in Egypt burned in 48 B.C. Hundreds of scrolls that told of ancient philosophy, botany, astronomy, medicine, mythology, and ritual went up in smoke. A staggering amount of knowledge was lost.
The type of knowledge that was lost to the Old World is what Shumla is working to preserve here in the New World. Our “scrolls” are the narrative murals of Texas. They are an archive left by ancient people, painted thousands of years before we thought it was possible to have a “written” record. We cannot lose this knowledge!
The Alexandria Project
BACKGROUND
Shumla has developed a sophisticated preservation-through-documentation process. The globally-recognized Shumla Method documents each mural so thoroughly that it can forever be studied and even recreated once lost.
NEED
Full preservation documentation can take more than a year. At this rate it would take over 100 years to reach and preserve all of the over 300 rock art sites in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands. We can’t wait that long. Many sites are imminently threatened by flooding. All are degrading rapidly. We must visit and collect critical baseline information at each site as quickly as possible, before they are lost.
PLAN
In Phase 1 of the Alexandria Project, Shumla’s team will follow a rigorous research and data management plan to complete Level 1 documentation at all known sites in just four years — 2017 to 2020. As always, we will work closely with landowners to receive permission to access any sites on private property.
At each site we will:
- Capture a high-resolution Gigapan image of the entire mural,
- Record an accurate GPS centroid coordinate,
- Capture image data for Structure-for-Motion Photogrammetry 3-D Modeling,
- Complete a State of Texas Archaeological Site Form
- Complete a Shumla Rock Art Site Form, and
- Complete canyon surveys near known sites to discover new sites.
RESULT
Successful completion of this project will:
- Give us a near complete picture of the remaining “library” of painted texts
- Digitally document the rock art for this vast archaeological region,
- Establish a baseline record of the art in its current condition,
- Generate a data set that scholars and students can use to conduct research and answer globally-significant questions for years and years to come, and
Most importantly, the data we gather during Phase 1 of the Alexandria Project will inform how we prioritize sites for full preservation-through-documentation. We will know which sites are the most imminently threatened and which are of greatest import. Phase 2 — the full documentation of all sites in the region — will define the on-going work of Shumla for our foreseeable future.
COST
The Alexandria Project is the most ambitious project Shumla has ever undertaken. It will cost $3 Million over four years to complete. Together with our supporters, we will move the needle on the preservation and study of the North American Archaic library of murals in a big way.
JOIN US! Help us achieve our mission! Support the Alexandria Project today.
Anonymous Foundation Donor
We Need You!
Please help us catalog and ultimately preserve the North American Archaic library!