Mission
Caucasus Heritage Watch was founded in 2020 to monitor and document endangered and damaged cultural heritage using high-resolution satellite imagery. We strive to reveal visual evidence regarding past and present cultural erasure using the latest technologies of earth observation. Our purpose is to encourage accountability, inform public policy, support truth and reconciliation, and remove cultural heritage from the front lines of regional conflicts.
Heritage Forensics in the South Caucasus
CHW conducts two primary forms of heritage forensic research
Heritage Monitoring
CHW monitors at-risk heritage caught in the cross-fire of the ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. We use satellite tasking to regularly update condition assessments of hundreds of heritage sites.
Historical Forensics
CHW conducts forensic analyses of heritage abuses in the region, including the erasure of Armenian heritage in Nakhchivan and abuses of Azerbaijani heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh between 1994 and 2020.
Our Goals
Truth-telling
Investigating and monitoring past and future damage to cultural heritage contributes to the work of truth and reconciliation. Satellite surveillance can bear witness to the condition of heritage sites, providing proof to counter state denialism and other abuses that place heritage at the center of political conflict.
Deterrence
Satellite-based monitoring has the potential to discourage state actors from intentional erasure both through the act of bearing witness, and by disseminating authoritative research to relevant national and international agencies and the public.
Accountability
In contexts of conflict and genocide, abuses to cultural heritage are often clandestine, making it difficult to hold actors accountable. Satellite-based monitoring that reveals the destruction of cultural heritage provides a forensic resource so that the public can hold responsible parties accountable for harms.
Innovation
Caucasus Heritage Watch works to develop new techniques in the use of geospatial technologies for sustained, large-scale monitoring of cultural heritage at risk. We seek to innovate transferrable methodologies that can amplify our practical impact and empower partners in the region and beyond.