Working Together to Digitally Preserve the Heritage of East Africa

The caves of Laas Geel, Dhagah Kureh, and Dhagah Nabi Galay lie just 30-45 minutes outside of Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland. 

The paintings found there are considered to be some of the best preserved Neolithic rock art in all of Africa. In September 2013, CyArk and the Horn Heritage Charity digitally documented the site with laser scanning and photogrammetry.   

Somali professionals were trained in digital photogrammetry with support from ICCROM, the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property and the Swiss Government.

Three sites were captured by overlapping multiple photos and combining these with data captured by LiDAR laser scanning.

Workshop participants worked with CyArk to align the data together so that it could be used to manage the site. 

Explore a 3D model of one of the rock art panels at the Laas Geel rock art site.