Could 3D printing rescue ruined relics?

Despite heavy fortifications terrorists managed to occupy the site from May last year and, through the use of satellite imagery analysis, it can be proved that the site was comprehensively looted throughout its occupation.

The city has now been recaptured, and damage assessments and restoration programmes are already underway. Although many artifacts were rescued from the site prior to the IS occupation, many others were destroyed, such as the Temple Baalshamin and the Temple of Bel.

However, The Million Image Database Project at the Oxford Institute for Digital Archaeology has distributed cameras to volunteers across the Middle East to collect 3D photos of sites. As well as creating 3D models, they will recreate full scale artifacts, sites and architectural features using its own cement-based 3D printing techniques. This will start with a recreation of the arch from Palmyra’s Temple of Bel.

3D printing technology could recreate (and perhaps ultimately restore) what IS has destroyed. 3D printing can be done in any colour of shapeable material, and can be as obvious, or as unobtrusive, as desired. The group is also exploring using computer guided tools to quickly carve their models into stone.

Large scale restoration has been done before – despite being nearly completely destroyed during World War II, Poland’s capital Warsaw was almost completely rebuilt and is now a world heritage site. Indeed, modern 3D printing techniques are capable of elevating the costs of large restoration projects.

However, in some quarters it has been argued that 3D printing fails to capture the authenticity of the original structures, while some have also asked whether returning Palmyra exactly to its pre-conflict state denies a major chapter of its history?