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Dr Frederick Baker and Dr Christopher Chippindale are among the winners of this year's European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards.

The researchers lead on the 'Prehistoric Picture Project ∙P∙I∙T∙O∙T∙I∙ : Digital Rock-Art led', an ambitious project focusing on the recording and analysis of rock art in Valcamonica, a UNESCO World Heritage site in the Italian Alps.

The project - honoured in the research and digitisation category for its work between 2009 and 2013 - was led by Cambridge with contributors from the Centro Camuno di Studi Preistorici, St Pölten University of Applied Sciences and the Bauhaus University Weimar. It uses film, photography, dance, animation, music, 3D printing and scanning technology to record and re-present these open-air rock carvings, not only preserving the prehistoric images for posterity, but bringing them to life with real depth. Dr Baker commented: “This European award is a reward for the whole of the European interdisciplinary team of archaeologists, engineers and artists that created this project.”

The winners are selected by independent, expert juries and are chosen as excellent examples of creativity, innovation, sustainable development and social participation in the heritage field throughout Europe.

Tibor Navracsics, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport said: “I warmly congratulate the winners and their teams for their exceptional work. Thanks to their talent and commitment, numerous European cultural heritage treasures have been safeguarded and revitalised for the benefit of present and future generations.”

Plácido Domingo, the renowned opera singer and President of Europa Nostra added, “All these award-winning achievements prove that heritage matters to Europe and its citizens. Cultural heritage is a driver for sustainable economic development and a cohesive force for our multicultural societies.”

Dr Chippindale commented: "When new advances in archaeology are reported, we tend to think of new discoveries, a new painted cave of a newly found ancient golden tomb. But, actually new advances in archaeology as often come from new methods, new approaches and above all new ideas when they're applied to the classic and already famous known places. A radical transformation of our understanding of Stonehenge has come about in the last decade that way."

Dr Baker added: “This is an award for arts based research in the digital humanities. It uses the digital and performative arts to encourage both scholars and the public to examine the past through evidence-based historical imagination”.

Date awarded

24 May 2016

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Dr Frederick Baker receives Europa Nostra award from Maestro Placido Domingo