Caucasus Heritage Watch: Using Satellites to Monitor Cultural Heritage at Risk

Who we are 

Caucasus Heritage Watch is an innovative research initiative centered at Cornell and Purdue Universities. Our mission is to document and monitor abuses of cultural heritage in war zones in the Caucasus using high-resolution satellite imagery. Focused on the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, we harness satellite technology to bear witness to destruction, damage, and emerging threats to cultural heritage in this complex world region.

Our team brings together decades of archaeological expertise in the South Caucasus. Drs. Lori Khatchadourian (Cornell), Adam T. Smith (Cornell), and Ian Lindsay (Purdue) have spent their careers studying the region's deep history, using both excavation and advanced geospatial technologies to understand historic landscapes. When war broke out in Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020, we responded to the crisis by applying our archaeological skills. Husik Ghulyan (Cornell), a political geographer with extensive expertise in mapping, GIS, and satellite image analysis joined our team, bringing crucial skills in spatial analysis.

The problem 

Political violence tears human societies apart, creating unfathomable losses and enduring scars. When cultural heritage is targeted, not only are human connections to the past disrupted, but communities are deprived of the fundamental human right to cultural life. The 30-year conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan has cost thousands of lives and caused numerous waves of forced displacement. Since the 1990s, war and ethnic hatred have also inflicted irreversible harms to the region’s rich cultural heritage.

Our research team has systematically documented the impacts of war on the region's medieval and modern cultural sites, from monasteries and churches to mosques and mausoleums. In one forensic investigation, we documented a state-sponsored program of cultural erasure that targeted all traces of Armenian cultural heritage in the Nakhchivan region of Azerbaijan. In another major investigation, we showed how Armenian authorities of the unrecognized Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh failed to protect mosques, mausolea, and historic Azerbaijani cemeteries from widespread damage and, in some cases, destruction.

Since founding CHW in 2020, we have conducted thirteen satellite monitoring missions and produced eight detailed reports. Even as active hostilities have ended and peace negotiations between the conflict parties are underway, Armenian cultural heritage in Azerbaijan remains at risk. 

Today, over 500 Armenian medieval and modern sites in Karabakh are under threat, endangered by Azerbaijan's policy of zero tolerance for Armenian cultural remains. UNESCO has not been permitted to visit the region, and independent researchers cannot conduct assessments on the ground. What can be done to save monuments that testify not only to centuries of Armenian cultural life in Karabakh but also to a history of coexistence?

Our solution 

CHW uses high-resolution satellite imagery to systematically monitor the condition of Armenian cultural heritage in Azerbaijan, producing verifiable evidence that can be used in a court of law and by publics seeking truth and reconciliation. We conduct two monitoring missions each year, keep watch of over 500 endangered sites. Through our website, reports, social media, scholarly publications, and presentations in public fora, we bring concerning impacts on cultural heritage to the attention of policy makers, journalists, legal experts, stakeholders, and researchers as they unfold. The public can follow our research as it unfolds by viewing the dashboard on our website.

Your impact 

We are aiming to raise $10,000 to help protect these endangered sites. While the actual cost of satellite monitoring is much more than this (approximately $50 per site), your contribution of any amount will help us sustain our vital monitoring work. Here are examples of what different donation levels can help achieve:

• $50 = Helps monitor one heritage site in our next mission (Spring 2026)
• $100 = Helps monitor one heritage site over the course of one year (two missions)
• $200 = Helps monitor a cluster of historic monuments 
• $500 = Supports monitoring of a historic district

Every donation, regardless of size, brings us closer to our goal of keeping watch over these irreplaceable monuments. Whether you can give $5 or $500, your support matters in our mission to preserve cultural heritage.

Join our mission 

By supporting this project, you'll become part of our heritage protection team. We provide:

• Regular monitoring reports with satellite evidence
• Updates on our findings on social media. Follow us on Facebook, X, and Bluesky.

Act now 

Through regular surveillance, we seek to deter further cultural erasure in the Caucasus and develop a model for saving threatened heritage anywhere in the world.

As a registered student organization, we are committed to equal access to all of our programs and do not discriminate based on any protected identity status.