Can We Rebuild the Kasthamandap? Promoting Post-Disaster Rescue Excavations, Salvage and Subsurface Heritage Protection Protocols in Kathmandu

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The earthquakes which struck Nepal in 2015 caused a human catastrophe. Not only did they inflict loss of life and livelihoods, they destroyed substantial parts of Kathmandu's unique UNESCO World Heritage site. The monuments of the city were not only ornate structures but were living monuments playing central roles in the daily lives of thousands of Nepalis. Furthermore, their rehabilitation is of economic importance as they represent a major source of foreign currency and employment through tourism. Indeed, the Government of Nepal's 'Cultural Heritage Post-Disaster Needs Assessment 2015' (PDNA) estimates that losses relating to damage and livelihoods amount to over US$23 million. Whilst there is a strong political, social and economic desire to reconstruct rapidly, it is critical that post-disaster rescue archaeology is combined with reconstruction. Indeed, plans to reconstruct temples on existing ruined platforms must first be preceded by a phase of rescue excavations to evaluate the subsurface stability of foundations with detailed recording and scientific analysis as few architectural studies have considered them. These will provide a greater understanding of how monuments developed and facilitate their enhanced rehabilitation and future protection. There is also an imperative for information and data sharing and capacity building as damage has already been inflicted on monuments within the UNESCO World Heritage site during the post-disaster pre-reconstruction phase led by architects and engineers unaware of the heritage beneath their feet.Indeed, having discussed challenges and opportunities with stakeholders in Kathmandu, it is clear that the current focus on the rehabilitation of architectural superstructures has resulted in additional damage to Kathmandu's World Heritage site. This has largely gone unnoticed as it entailed damage to subsurface archaeological heritage, even though this heritage is protected by national legislation. Emergency interventions badly damaged some buildings but, whilst they were driven by recovering the injured and dead, more recent damage relates to non-emergency activities, including engineering contractors cutting exploratory trenches and drilling soil cores, workmen cutting foundations, soldiers deliberately collapsing monuments and engineers dismantling others. All of these events had a common absence of in-situ archaeological recording and the absence of consultation with trained professional archaeologists beforehand.This absence is paralleled in the PDNA 2015, which fails to note the risk to the vulnerable subsurface archaeological heritage from rehabilitation and reconstruction activities. More recent documents, such as the draft 'Conservation Guidelines for Post 2015 Earthquake Rehabilitation: Conservation Guidelines' (CGPERCG2015) recognise this risk but need strengthening. It is worth noting that this situation is common across South Asia and there is a capacity deficit in urban and rescue archaeology, despite being located in a region whose built heritage is prone to risks from both seismic events and rapid urbanisation. Following requests from the Government of Nepal and ICOMOS (Nepal) and responding to AHRC's FoF 'Notice for International Development', our aim is to build on the success of the 'Outstanding' graded AHRC-funded research in Sri Lanka to conduct a practical field training workshop with non-academic collaborators to focus on learning from the evaluation of the foundations of the collapsed Kasthamandap in Kathmandu and as well as on salvaging material to assist post-earthquake plans for its reconstruction and to offer an exemplar for strengthening and disseminating post-disaster subsurface heritage protocols within post-earthquake Kathmandu.