ARCHAEOLOGISTS from the University of Bradford are part of a groundbreaking project to preserve some of the world’s most important and under-threat historic sites.

Many ancient monuments in places like Syria and Libya have suffered from vandalism, neglect, and in some cases total destruction by groups like ISIS, and the university team is part of a group that is asking the public to help preserve the memory of these sites for future generations.

Researchers from the Universities of Bradford, St Andrews, Birmingham and Nottingham Ningbo China, have joined forces with regional specialists to build an online resource.

The Bradford team will use this to digitally reconstruct archaeological sites that are under threat.

The Curious Travellers project seeks out travellers from around the world who have visited ancient sites or monuments that are now at risk or have been damaged, who are willing to share their photographs and videos.

The project will initially highlight threatened or damaged sites in North Africa, including Cyrene in Libya, as well as those in Syria and the Middle East, but is open to historic sites around the world.

Since it was launched last week, over 1,000 images have been uploaded.

The researchers will combine content from the public with other resources drawn from travel blogs, the internet and social media to recreate 3D models of monuments and ancient sites.

The Bradford Visualisation team, based in the School of Archaeological Sciences, will lead in the reconstruction of monuments as 3D models.

The project, which has received £305,000 in funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, will provide a framework for government bodies and heritage organisations that can be used for interpreting, presenting, conserving and managing other heritage sites around the world.

Dr Chris Gaffney, Head of the School of Archaeological Sciences at the University of Bradford, said: “This project is unique as it collates both public data and generates heritage information that can be used where archaeological evidence has been damaged or destroyed. The long-term legacy of this project is the establishment of a framework that can be used anywhere in the world to help preserve vital information about historic sites.”

The public has been invited to upload material to the project website - visualisingheritage.org/CT.php