From The Flintstones to The Jetsons

August 4, 2010 11:19 PM

"Heritage Sites of Astronomy and Archaeoastronomy in the Context of the World Heritage Convention" (also available here) is a collaborative study by the IAU Working Group on Astronomy and World Heritage and the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). The study has been endorsed by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, at its 34th session in Brasília, Brazil, marking the first time a study in scientific heritage has been so endorsed.

The study, released as part of the International Year of Astronomy 2009, presents "a global survey of astronomical heritage from the standpoint of the identification and evaluation of heritage sites relating to astronomy and archaeoastronomy that might have the potential to demonstrate outstanding universal value (OUV)—the term of recognition for the value properties need to manifest in order to be inscribed on the World Heritage List."

It grew out of the Astronomy and World Heritage Initiative, adopted by UNESCO in 2005. Astronomy and World Heritage is one of 12 cornerstone projects (previously) supporting the International Year of Astronomy 2009. Of the 21 properties newly inscribed as World Heritage Sites two of them are related to astronomical heritage: Jantar Mantar in Jaipur and the Dengfeng Observatory, part of the Historic Monuments of Dengfeng in "The Centre of Heaven and Earth" World Heritage Site inscription in China.

posted by IvoShandor (4 comments total)

Also, in case you were wondering what "outstanding universal value" is.
posted by IvoShandor at 11:31 PM on August 4, 2010

Jantar Mantar in Jaipur

Maybe there should be a separate FPP on the squad of time-traveling 1970s architects bent on making the world look stupid
posted by theodolite at 6:01 AM on August 5, 2010

This is great stuff, thanks!
posted by cog_nate at 7:58 AM on August 5, 2010

Previous post on Chankillo, Peru.
posted by homunculus at 8:29 AM on August 5, 2010