Since 2021, Caucasus Heritage Watch (CHW) has used satellite technology and other forensic techniques to document past and ongoing abuses of cultural heritage in the South Caucasus region, where Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought for decades over territory. Even with a 2020 ceasefire in place, the damage and destruction of cultural sites - churches, mosques, monasteries, cemeteries and other monuments spanning centuries - continues.
In "Heritage Forensics: Culture on the Front Lines of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict," CHW researchers including Lori Khatchadourian, professor of Near Eastern studies and anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) and Adam T. Smith, the Henry Scarborough Professor of Social Science in anthropology (A&S), describe their new framework for studying cultural heritage in war zones, drawing on the investigative reports of the Nagorno-Karabakh wars CHW released between 2021 and 2025.
"Humanists don't typically write investigative reports, but this genre of writing can do something that academic books cannot: create an authoritative record of what is known at a particular moment," Khatchadourian said. "This is especially important where conditions are changing rapidly, like in conflict zones."
At the same time, a scholarly book can do something a report cannot, the authors said, pointing out that "Heritage Forensics" develops new methods and theories for addressing cultural heritage in war that can be extended to other contexts where culture is threatened by war, bigotry and secrecy. The book is co-authored with Ian Lindsay, associate professor of anthropology at Purdue University, and political geographer Husik Ghulyan, research associate with the Cornell Institute of Archaeology and Material Studies (A&S).
Read an interview with Khatchadourian and Smith on the College of Arts and Sciences website.
