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Turning rock carvings into laser projections


The US state of Arizona has some of the largest collections of historical Native American art.

About 800 petroglyphs (rock carvings) can been found 90 miles (145km) from Phoenix. Some of the etchings go back as far as 7,000 years.

Most of them were created by chipping and scraping the top surface of the basalt boulders to expose a lighter layer underneath.

But this site, like many others, is under threat.

Some of the rocks have been shot at, graffitied or had paint thrown over them. The weather is also causing deterioration.

Artist Christopher Short, who is descended from the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, believes the petroglyphs are connections to the past and need to be preserved.

He photographs the petroglyphs before using his computer to turn the photos into laser projections.

“I’m basically turning rock art into science-fiction. This is spirit, and science and art all intersecting,” he said.

The BBC Travel Show’s Rajan Datar reports.

Watch more clips at The Travel Show website.