Hazards, Risks, and Conservation Measures: A Heritage Impact Assessment Geodatabase of Indus Civilization and Chalcolithic Sites of Gujarat, India

This research article aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of spatial analysis combined with Heritage Impact Assessments (HIA) for heritage management. It explains a geodatabase created for 508 archeological sites in Gujarat, India, related to Indus civilization and regional Chalcolithic cultures. The study area’s diverse geology made the sites ideal for the study. Each site in the geodatabase was provided with five attributes: Name, coordinates, hazard, risk, and conservation strategy. The names and coordinates were collected from field visits and previous works. Eight specific hazards have been selected in this study: soil erosion, floods, landslides, earthquakes, urban development, agriculture, vegetation growth, and minor vandalism. The hazard datasets were generated using various data and techniques such as satellite remote sensing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM), to name a few. Their quantitative risk to archaeological sites was calculated based on the impact on the structure or area of the sites. It was observed that out of the 508 sites, 464 are at risk from at least one of these factors. Excluding sites located in agricultural fields, 278 sites are still at risk. Finally, the database also provides conservation measures to mitigate risks involving various stakeholders such as academicians, heritage managers, and the public. These measures highlight the need for better practices, periodic monitoring, and the importance of using information technology by providing 3D layouts and models of a few sites.