STUDY AND ANALYSIS HEISHAN PETROGLYPHS BY DIGITAL PRESERVATION IN JIAYUGUAN CITY

Abstract

Heishan petroglyphs, as an important cultural heritage of China's Hexi Corridor, record ancient social forms, religious beliefs, and artistic styles but are severely threatened by natural and human-induced damage, posing a grave challenge to their preservation. Existing studies primarily focused on anthropological and artistic values, while research on digital preservation is scarce. This study took six petroglyph sites at Heishan in Jiayuguan as samples and employed a combination of literature analysis, field investigation, and in-depth interviews to conduct research from three aspects:First, based on image data and historical documents, an image classification system was established to categorize the petroglyphs into six groups—animals, hunting, dance, religion, writing, and plants—exploring their cultural symbolism and social functions. Second, apetroglyphs image database was constructed using high-definition image acquisition to providedata support. Third, images, documents, and other materials were integrated to develop an application platform that encompasses teaching, research, and cultural dissemination, whose effectiveness was preliminarily validated in education and cultural innovation practices.This study was the first to systematically integrate classification, digital acquisition, and resource platform development, enhancing the efficiency of archival and dissemination of petroglyphs and exploring a scientific path for digital preservation. In the future, further integration of virtual reality and artificial intelligence technologies could expand the functionality of the resource library and promote intelligent protection and global dissemination of petroglyphs

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