The Quiriguá Archaeological Park and Ruins represents a Classic period Maya civic-ceremonial center situated on the lower Motagua River in Guatemala. The site contains extraordinary monolithic carved stone monuments depicting artistically and intellectually refined glyphic texts. The carved images express political ideologies and cosmological themes that form a shared language of rulership and power during the Classic period (c. AD 250 to 950). The skill and artistry of the ancient Maya sculptors at Quiriguá led UNESCO to list it as a World Heritage Site in 1981, declaring the sculpture and architecture “universal masterpieces.” Using innovative digital strategies to create a permanent digital archive of Quiriguá, the CDHGI (Doering and Collins, Principal Investigators) worked with archaeologists and government site collaborators to 3D laser scan, map, and image the sculpture, architecture, terrain, and artifacts. This project, an ongoing partnership in digital heritage and online collection applications and visualization development, is vitally important since the site is imperiled and faces several natural and human-induced threats. In 2012, the site was placed on the World Monuments Watch List to stress the need for effective planning and protection of this internationally recognized cultural resource. The results from our digitization project have direct benefits to resource managers and to the conservation and protection of the site. They will form a lasting record of research into the future.

Models and other applications emerging from this work as well as future funding and research design collaborative developments, are designed to enhance access through the provision of visualizations and online applications that protect and preserve the data, treat data ethically in concert with permit and government requirements, and provide teaching, engagement, global learning opportunities, and specialized digital tools designed for site managers and the archaeological conservation and restoration needs for Quiriguá.

View our 3D models here.