Maldives Heritage Survey Field Team has completed its initial survey of Isdhoo-Kalaidhoo of Laamu Atoll.
The team have documented the ancient mosque and cemetery site, a large Buddhist ritual complex comprised of the ruins of 50 structures and surrounding walls in the vicinity of two large mounds, and a number of other smaller sites including a now submerged bathing tank and the ruins of a deserted mosque site in the island and a cemetery in Dhiyadhoo Island.
The team said the documentations are now being processed for entry into the database. The team will continue its journey throughout Maldives with a plan of covering six of the country's atolls over the coming two years.
The project conducted at Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies is funded by Arcadia Fund. The components of the project in Maldives will be conducted in partnership with Maldives Department of Heritage with additional support from the Earth Observatory of Singapore.
The Maldives Heritage Survey was initiated aiming to systematically conduct inventory and document endangered tangible cultural heritage sites in the Maldives, including mosques, Muslim grave markers, and other historical structures and physical objects through digital photography, 3D terrestrial scanning and geographic information system to create an open access online heritage database.