2020
2(62)
DOI: 10.37190/arc200204
Introduction
El Fuerte de Samaipata is a pre-Hispanic archaeolog-
ical site in Bolivia on the eastern slopes of the Andes. It
lies at an altitude of ca. 1890â1925 m in Florida Province,
about 80 km (in a straight line) south-west from Santa
Cruz de la Sierra.
Due to its outstanding historical and cultural values,
El Fuerte de Samaipata was inscribed on the UNESCO
World Heritage List in 1998. The whole site covers an
area of about 40 ha and consists of two main parts:
â An administrative and ceremonial complex of ca. îżf-
ty buildings typical for provincial Incan architecture lo-
cated in the southern part of the site;
â A natural rock (ca. 80 Ă 250 m) in the northern part of
the site (Fig. 1).
The rock was the main subject of the project âAr-
chitectural examination and complex documentation of
Samaipata (Fuerte de Samaipata/Bolivia) site from the
Jacek KoĆciuk*, Mariusz ZiĂłĆkowski**, BartĆomiej Ämielewski***,
Delfor Ulloa Vidaurre****
Samaipata project
â aim of the research, methodology,
and methods of documentation
Projekt Samaipata
â cel badaĆ, metodologia i metody dokumentacji
World Heritage Listâ. The rock is covered with a complex
arrangement of terraces, platforms, ramps, niches, water
reservoirs, and channels. Numerous zoomorphic and ge-
ometric petroglyphs are scattered between them.
El Fuerte de Samaipata owes its present form to almost
1200 years of activity of various local pre-Colombian cul-
tures for which the rock was a sacred place (wakâa). The
îżnal shape of the rock, which today is one of Boliviaâs
most important tourist attractions, was probably carved in
the 15
th
(2
nd
halfâ?) or at the beginnings of the 16
th
centu-
ry, when the Samaipata region was incorporated into the
Inca Empire (Tawantinsuyu).
The earliest references to Samaipata come from 16
th
-cen-
tury Spanish chronicles [1], but it was only in the 1
st
quar-
ter
of the 19
th
century that it became of interest for Old
World science thanks to the work of Alcide Dessaline
dâOrbigny [2]. Systematic scientiîżc research only began
in the 20
th
century [3], [4]. The establishment of the Ar-
chaeological Research Centre in Samaipata (Centro de
Investigaciones ArqueolĂłgicas en Samaipata, CIAS) [5]
in 1970 and the activity of German scientists associated
with the University of Bonn [6]â[12] contributed to the
intensiîżcation of this research.
Origin of the project
The interest of Polish researchers in the Samaipata site
dates back to the years 1993â1994, when a group of students
* ORCID: 0000-0003-0623-8071. Faculty of Architecture,
Wro cĆaw University of Science and Technology, e-mail: jacek.kosciuk@
pwr.edu.pl
** ORCID: 0000-0003-4137-0799. Centre of Andean Studies of
the University of Warsaw in Cusco (Peru).
*** ORCID: 0000-0002-1035-3905. Faculty of Architecture,
WrocĆaw University of Science and Technology.
**** Ministry of Cultures and Tourism, Bolivia.

20 Jacek KoĆciuk, Mariusz ZiĂłĆkowski, BartĆomiej Ämielewski, Delfor Ulloa Vidaurre
at the Institute of Archaeology of the University of War-
saw were invited by JĂłzef Szykulski to visit the site.
Szykulski was a Polish archaeologist from the University
of WrocĆaw who at that time was a member of the German
Samaipata Archeological Research Project (Proyecto de
InvestigaciĂłn ArqueolĂłgica de Samaipata, PIAS) that was
cooperating with the University of Warsaw. Later, one of
the German PIAS researchers, Anja-Kathrin
Meinken,
participated in the work of the Polish research project
known as âCondesuyosâ (Arequipa, Peru) in 1999 and
2004. She compared the kallanka of Samaipata with sim-
ilar constructions discovered by the Polish team at the
Inca sites located in the Coropuna and Solimana regions.
These early contacts provided Polish scholars with impor-
tant and valuable information about Samaipata, and raised
their interest in this emblematic site. It is also worth men-
tioning that in the years 2007â2014, a PolishâItalianâBo-
livian team was carrying out the TiwanakuâKantatallita
archaeological project at the site of Tiahuanaco.
In 2014, Mariusz ZiĂłĆkowski, the Polish co-director of
the project at Tiahuanaco and the head of the Centre for
Pre-Columbian Studies of the University of Warsaw in
Cusco (CEAC), made a working visit to Samaipata at the
invitation of the then-director of CIAS, Richard AlcĂĄzar
de la Fuente. During this visit, the outline of a high-res-
olution 3D documentation project of the entire rock, to-
gether with all the engravings, was created.
The Bolivian side â CIAS and the local authorities of the
Department of Santa Cruz â were aware of similar projects
that had been implemented in recent years by the Polish
team in the National Archaeological Park of Machu Picchu
(Peru) and also of the PolishâItalianâBolivian project at the
Tiwanaku site. With this background, in November 2014,
CIAS and Frank Herrera Bassta, at that time mayor of Sa-
maipata, issued an oî”¶cial invitation to Mariusz ZiĂłĆkowski.
He in turn invited Jacek KoĆciuk â the head of the Labo-
ratory of 3D Scanning and Modeling (LabScan3D) at
WrocĆaw University of Science and Technology, with whom
the University of Warsaw had previous experience and
achievements in 3D scanning monuments in Egypt, Peru,
and Easter Island, among others â to work on the project.
In June 2015, the National Science Centre of Poland
(NCN) granted îżnancial support to the project, and the
main beneîżciary was the WrocĆaw University of Science
and Technology.
At the beginning of August 2015, Jacek KoĆciuk and
Mariusz ZiĂłĆkowski met with representatives of the local
Samaipata administration and CIAS staî””. This resulted in
the signing of a tripartite cooperation agreement between
the municipality of Samaipata, the University of Warsaw,
and the WrocĆaw University of Science and Technology.
Fieldwork started in June 2016 and beneîżted from the
logistical and institutional support of CEAC, as well as
from the great help oî””ered by the Bolivian hosts â both
the local municipality and the staî”” of CIAS. The contri-
bution of Bolivian archaeologists and, in particular, that
of the Bolivian co-director of the project, Delfor Ulloa
Vidaurre, was also extremely important.
A leading Italian specialist in South American rock
art, Giuseppe Oreîżci, the director of the Italian Centre
for Pre-Columbian Archaeological Studies and Research
(Centro Italiano di Studi e Ricerche Archeologiche Pre-
colombiane) also joined the project. In turn, German col-
leagues, in particular Albert Meyers, former director of
PIAS, provided the project with the documentation ar-
chived in Bonn, under a cooperation agreement between
the University of Warsaw and the University of Bonn.
Therefore, the results presented in the series of articles
that make up this volume are the eî””ects of internation-
al and multilateral cooperation, whose objective was to
contribute to the study and conservation a valuable monu-
ment on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Main reasons behind starting the project
and its main goals
The initiative to prepare 3D documentation for the sa-
cred rock of the El Fuerte de Samaipata site was due to the
recommendations related to the study and preservation of
the World Heritage Sites as stipulated in the Convention
Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural
Heritage, which was adopted at the 17
th
General Confer-
ence of UNESCO in Paris on 16
th
November, 1972.
Article 5 of this document speciîżes the following:
To ensure that eî§Œective and active measures are tak-
en for the protection, conservation and presentation of
the cultural and natural heritage situated on its territo-
ry, each State Party to this Convention shall endeavour,
in so far as possible, and as appropriate for each coun-
try: [âŠ].
Fig. 1. El Fuerte de Samaipata as seen from the south (photo by J. KoĆciuk)

Samaipata projectââ/âProjekt Samaipata 21
3. to develop scientiîżc and technical studies and re-
search and to work out such operating methods as will
make the State capable of counteracting the dangers that
threaten its cultural or natural heritage; [âŠ].
5. to foster the establishment or development of na-
tional or regional centres for training in the protection,
conservation and presentation of the cultural and natu-
ral heritage and to encourage scientiîżc research in this
îżeld [13].
In the speciîżc case of Samaipata and in particular of the
sacred rock, all the governmental and municipal authorities,
scientists, and general public of Bolivia, as well as foreign
scholars, agreed that this unique monument is deteriorat-
ing due to a set of complex and interlaced environmental
and anthropic factors. This deterioration mostly aî””ects the
petroglyphs carved in the rock, as the stone in which the
petroglyphs have been carved is very delicate and soft and
is subject to irreversible erosion. This danger was observed
by the îżrst scholars who visited and documented Samaipa-
ta [3], [4]. Comparison of photos taken in the 1960s with
the current situation indisputably demonstrates that some of
previously known petroglyphs (for example, the so-called
âOstrichâ [14]) are now completely unrecognisable (Fig. 2).
The hard evidence that geological processes cannot be
stopped must be accepted. The petroglyphs will contin-
ue to be erased. The question is whether this process will
be slow or fast and how we can inîuence it. By apply-
ing a series of appropriate measures, we can slow its mo-
mentum to some extent, but it is impossible to stop it, let
alone reverse it. Due to this, it is important to document
the petroglyphs as accurately as possible using the most
advanced techniques in order to provide a lasting testimo-
ny of these signiîżcant vestiges of pre-Hispanic cultures.
This task needs to be completed as soon as possible, as
published studies [15], [11] show that the rapid weather-
ing of the rock is clearly blurring the petroglyphs (Fig. 3).
The reasons for this degradation are not yet fully estab-
lished, but for the assessment of the current situation, the
implementation of precise documentation was considered
a priority.
The main goals of the 3D documentation project were
the following:
â Comprehensive documentation of the entire sacred
rock using 3D surveying techniques (laser scanning and
photogrammetry);
â Registration and detailed documentation of all trac-
es of anthropogenic activity visible on the rock (from
pre-Hispanic petroglyphs to the inscriptions left in the
20
th
century by site visitors). This task also included the
3D modeling of the petroglyphs and advanced digital
analysis of the traces already practically invisible to the
naked eye;
â Analysis of the superposition of the petroglyphs and
carvings in order to establish a relative chronology of the
diî””erent phases of the transformation of the rock;
â Analysis of some environmental factors that aî””ect
the rock, in particular insolation, wind erosion, moisture
(Fig. 4), and the action of lichens (Fig. 5).
The results will serve to establish a detailed account of
the state of the site in the second decade of the 21
st
cen-
tury, as the basis for future monitoring. They should also
allow the areas of the monument that are most aî””ected
by deterioration to be identiîżed. This in turn may serve
as a basis for the development of practical programs of
protection and preservation.
Methodology of the research and project timetable
From June 2015 to September 2019, the project was
divided into four main phases:
â Literature studies and checking the archive collec-
tions of the University of Bonn, the Commission for
Fig. 2. The place where the petroglyph depicting an ostrich once existed
(photo by J. KoĆciuk)
Fig. 3. Indecipherable petroglyph probably depicting a puma
(photo by J. KoĆciuk)

22 Jacek KoĆciuk, Mariusz ZiĂłĆkowski, BartĆomiej Ämielewski, Delfor Ulloa Vidaurre
Archeaology of Non-European Cultures (Kommission fĂŒr
ArchĂ€ologie AuĂereuropĂ€ischer Kulturen, KAAK) and
CIAS (July 2015âMay 2016);
â Two seasons of îżeldwork (JuneâJuly 2016 and July
2017) dedicated to collecting surveying and descriptive
documentation;
â Data processing in the LabScan3D computer labora-
tory (September 2016âJune 2017, and November 2017â
November 2018);
â Preparation of the îżnal drawings, reports, and publi-
cations (January 2019âSeptember 2019).
During this time, several conference presentations and
lectures promoting partial project results were also pre-
pared at the following places as well as others:
â South American Archaeology Seminar Institute of
Archaeology, UCL, London 2017;
â III National Rock Art Conference: Heritage of the
Past, Krakow 2017;
â International Conference on Structural Analysis of
Historical Constructions, SAHC 2018, Cusco 2018;
â 58
th
Annual Meeting of the Institute of Andean Stud-
ies, Berkeley (CA) 2018;
â VI Jornadas de Astronomia Cultural Sociedad In-
teramericana de Astronomia en el Cultura; Simposio: El
proyecto de documentaciĂłn de la Roca Sagrada de Samai-
pata y de la interpretaciĂłn de los petrĂłglifos, Samaipata
2018.
Partial project results were also presented at the
UNESCO headquarters in Paris in April 2017 during the
exhibition âAgainst the Sands of Time. Documentation
and Reconstruction of the World Heritage â the Polish
Experienceâ, which promoted Polish achievements in
the îżeld of conservation of sites from the World Her-
itage List, and also in July 2017 at the exhibition for
the 41
st
Session of the UNESCO World Heritage Com-
mittee in Krakow.
Documentation, surveying,
and analytical methods
Erosion is one of the most important factors aî””ecting
the conservation of archaeological sites and objects. The
shapes carved by humans become progressively faded,
leading to their disappearance. The sites directly exposed
to climatic factors are the most aî””ected by erosion and
cause the biggest loss in historic content. In the last few
decades, public awareness of erosion has increased, which
has resulted in an increase in restoration projects.
Several works have demonstrated the great beneîżt of
3D modeling for heritage objects, especially in terms of
historical analysis, documentation, preservation, and re-
sto ration [16]â[18]. Highly geometrically accurate 3D
digital representation requires all details to be available.
In the last few decades, terrestrial laser scanning (TLS)
and close-range photogrammetry (CRP) have been found
to be the best digital technology to eî””ectively document
cultural heritage. These two techniques have been used
in multiple applications. For example, TLS and CRP al-
low degradation to be identiîżed [19], evolution [20] and
deformation to be analysed [21], and documentation to be
created [22]. In comparison to traditional, expert meth-
ods to detect material degradation in historic buildings,
TLS and CRP are far less time-consuming. Accurate 3D
point cloud data deriving from TLS and CRP provide
a very detailed and complete description of objects both
in micro and macro scale. The surveys created using these
two techniques (especially TLS with the addition of data
derived from CRP) are used for gathering information
necessary for the preservation of cultural heritage, archi-
tectural and archaeological studies and analyses [23], and
historical context analysis [24]. Documentation projects
with data fusion are commonly described as case stud-
ies in cultural heritage projects, especially when large or
Fig. 4. Erosion of a petroglyph representing two pumas
(photo by J. KoĆciuk)
Fig. 5. Lichens on a fragment of the so-called âBig Snakeâ petroglyph
(photo by B. KoĆciuk)

Samaipata projectââ/âProjekt Samaipata 23
complex scenarios are documented [16], [25]â[28]. Ob-
viously, there are some limitations of the TLS and CRP
techniques, but in fact, these methods are very comple-
mentary [29], [30].
Most projects on complex sites combine diî””erent data
acquisition methods. A further technique that is also very
valuable is structured light scanning, which is used on
smaller objects, mainly in reverse engineering and mu-
seum collections. Works dedicated to handheld structured
light 3D scanners are focused on the practical assess-
ment of the produced data [31], [32]. The data collected
by such devices are considered more accurate than those
from TLS and CRP.
Another technique that is becoming increasingly im-
portant in archaeological, historical, and architectural re-
search is polynomial texture mapping (PTM), also known
as reîectance transformation imaging (RTI). It allows
blurred details caused by erosion and degradation to be
seen clearly, and was developed by researchers from the
Hewlett-Packard laboratory in 2001 [33]. This technique
uses sets of photographs of an object where the camera is
at a îżxed point and the light source angle is changing. The
results are displayed in a RTI viewer, allowing the user to
interact with the scene by virtually dragging a directional
light source and rendering the light changes in real time.
It is also possible to use a 3D model created using CPR
and TLS with the support of any 3D modeling program
like Bentley MicroStation, Autodesk 3DS or Blender to
emulate the behaviour of a real camera and light source.
In this particular project, hardware and software re-
sources of LabScan3D (WrocĆaw University of Science
and Technology) were used (Fig. 6).
Research team and acknowledgements
Over three years, almost twenty specialists from diî””er-
ent countries and various research centres participated in
the project:
â Jacek KoĆciuk (WrocĆaw University of Science and
Technology) â director of the project, 3D laser scanning
specialist, and head of LabScan3D;
â Mariusz ZiĂłĆkowski (University of Warsaw) â îżeld
director;
â Delfor Ulloa Vidaurre (Bolivian Ministry of Culture
and Tourism) â project co-director;
â Giuseppe Oreîżci (Italian Centre for Pre-Columbian
Archaeological Studies and Research) â petroglyphs con-
sultant;
â Rosario Muñóz Risolazo (Italian Centre for Pre-Co-
lumbian Archaeological Studies and Research) â petro-
glyphs consultant assistant;
â Albert Meyers (University of Bonn) â consultant;
â BartĆomiej Ämielewski (WrocĆaw University of Sci-
ence and Technology) â drone and photogrammetry expert;
â Anna Kubicka (WrocĆaw University of Science and
Technology) â 3D laser scanning assistant;
â Teresa Dziedzic (WrocĆaw University of Science
and Technology) â restoration specialist;
â Izabela WilczyĆska (WrocĆaw University of Environ-
mental and Life Sciences) â topographer and GIS expert;
â CiechosĆaw PatrzaĆek (WrocĆaw University of Envi-
ronmental and Life Sciences) â drone and photogramme-
try expert;
â Wojciech Bartz (University of WrocĆaw) â specialist
in petrographic and mineralogical research;
â Janusz Kogut (Cracow University of Technology)
â MES specialist;
â MaĆgorzata TelesiĆska (WrocĆaw University of Sci-
ence and Technology) â 3D laser scanning assistant;
â Maciej Nisztuk (WrocĆaw University of Science and
Technology) â specialist on PTM/RTI technology;
â Marta Pakowska (WrocĆaw University of Science
and Technology) â structural light scanning assistant;
â Maria GÄ
sior (Academy of Art and Design in Wro-
claw) â restoration expert;
â Dominika Sieczkowska (University of Warsaw)
â pro ject assistant;
â Dagmara Socha (University of Warsaw) â project
assistant.
Fig. 6. Hardware and software resources
of LabScan3D used during the project
(elaborated by J. KoĆciuk)
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Samaipata projectââ/âProjekt Samaipata 25
Acknowledgementsâ/PodziÄkowania
The presented work is part of the research sponsored by the grant giv-
en to the WrocĆaw University of Science and Technology by the Polish
Na tional Science Centre (grant No. 2014/15/B/HS2/01108). Additio-
nally, the municipality of Samaipata, represented by Mayor Falvio LĂł-
pes Escalera, contributed to this research by providing the accommo-
dation during the îżeldwork in June and July 2016, as well as in July
2017. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Bolivia kindly granted
all necessary permits (UDAM No. 014/2016; UDAM No 060/2017).
The research is conducted in close cooperation with the Centre of
Pre-Columbian Studies of the University of Warsaw in Cusco. Spe-
cialists from other universities and research centres are also joining
the project.
Abstract
The Samaipata project concerns one of Boliviaâs most important monuments â El Fuerte de Samaipata, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This paper
describes the origin of the project, the reasons behind starting it, and its main goals. In addition, the documentation, surveying and analytical methods
used in the project are brieîy described.
Key words: Bolivia, Samaipata, rock art, UNESCO World Heritage List, remote sensing
Streszczenie
Przedstawiany projekt Samaipata dotyczyĆ jednego z najwaĆŒniejszych zabytkĂłw Boliwii â El Fuerte de Samaipata, prekolumbijskiego stanowiska
archeologicznego wpisanego na ListÄ Ćwiatowego Dziedzictwa UNESCO. W artykule opisano genezÄ projektu, powody podjÄcia tematu oraz jego
gĆĂłwne cele. Ponadto w skrĂłcie opisano zastosowane w projekcie metody dokumentacyjno-pomiarowe i analityczne.
SĆowa kluczowe: Boliwia, Samaipata, sztuka naskalna, Lista Ćwiatowego Dziedzictwa UNESCO, teledetekcja

Dron pilots at work
(photo by J. KoĆciuk)
Piloci drona przy pracy
(fot. J. KoĆciuk)