ABSTRACT
The information described in this paper was gathered between 2002 and 2007 during several missions carried out for the conservation of three centralAsian sites located along the Silk Roads. The projects, funded by the Japanese Funds-in-trust for the Preservation of the World Cultural Heritage and coordinated by UNESCO, deal with a wide and multi-ethnic archaeological heritage: Buddhist monasteries and temples, fortified Islamic cities, Nestorian churches, Zoroastrian settlements, and oasis systems with wide irrigation canals. The work was started after distinct lack of literature on the building materials of central Asia, this being one of the initial obstacles that were encountered in when developing new attitudes and future directions in conservation. Other difficulties were mainly due to the remoteness of some of the sites and also to the shortage of conservation skills. A short summary of aims
and activities is provided in the following sections for every project.
