Abstract:

Background and Significance

The Helan Mountain Rock Art constitutes an important body of immovable cultural heritage located in the agro-pastoral transitional zone of north-western China. Existing surveys have documented 19,752 individual images and 5,088 rock art assemblages, encompassing diverse motifs such as human figures, animals, hunting, warfare, ritual scenes, and abstract symbols. Formed over a long historical period, these rock art sites exhibit highly complex spatial distributions and typological structures, and their interpretation relies heavily on environmental and cultural context. With the development of digital humanities methods, cultural heritage research is shifting from object-oriented digitization toward approaches emphasizing digital spatial context and structured knowledge representation. Against this backdrop, this study explores how the reconstruction of digital spatial context reshapes knowledge organization and scholarly interpretation of the Helan Mountain rock art.

Methodologies
This study selects five spatially concentrated rock art areas as core samples and develops a methodological framework combining digital spatial context reconstruction and knowledge organization modeling. Spatial context reconstruction integrates image acquisition, three-dimensional modeling, and spatial information technologies to represent topography, rock formations, orientation, visibility, and compositional relationships among rock art images. Knowledge organization is then constructed by structuring information on motif types, spatial relations, superimposition features, and interpretive scholarship, enabling the formation of interconnected and traceable interpretive knowledge structures. This framework supports an analysis of how meaning-making and interpretive pathways change under digital spatial conditions.This study selects five spatially concentrated rock art areas as core samples and develops a methodological framework combining digital spatial context reconstruction and knowledge organization modeling. Spatial context reconstruction integrates image acquisition, three-dimensional modeling, and spatial information technologies to represent topography, rock formations, orientation, visibility, and compositional relationships among rock art images. Knowledge organization is then constructed by structuring information on motif types, spatial relations, superimposition features, and interpretive scholarship, enabling the formation of interconnected and traceable interpretive knowledge structures. This framework supports an analysis of how meaning-making and interpretive pathways change under digital spatial conditions.

Results and Conclusions
The study demonstrates that digital spatial context reconstruction significantly expands the expressive dimensions of rock art data, allowing previously fragmented images to be re-associated across spatial, temporal, and semantic dimensions. This process facilitates a shift in knowledge organization from object- and description-oriented approaches toward context- and relationship-oriented structures. Based on these findings, a four-layer model for digital rock art development is proposed: The study demonstrates that digital spatial context reconstruction significantly expands the expressive dimensions of rock art data, allowing previously fragmented images to be re-associated across spatial, temporal, and semantic dimensions. This process facilitates a shift in knowledge organization from object- and description-oriented approaches toward context- and relationship-oriented structures. Based on these findings, a four-layer model for digital rock art development is proposed: (1) a data acquisition layer that preserves the original record characteristics of rock art through high-resolution imaging, three-dimensional surveying, and environmental data collection; (2) a data management layer that integrates and standardizes multi-source data; (3) a knowledge layer that supports scholarly analysis and comparative research through contextual modeling and the organization of multiple interpretations; and (4) a presentation layer that employs immersive digital environments and virtual media to reconstruct rock art creation processes and historical settings, enhancing public understanding of early civilizations.

Innovation and Limitations
This study innovatively integrates digital spatial context reconstruction into rock art knowledge organization research, examining how digital humanities methods reshape cultural heritage research paradigms at the level of knowledge production and interpretation. In this sense, digital spatial reconstruction does not merely serve visualization purposes but functions as a form of digital memory, enabling the long-term preservation, reinterpretation, and intergenerational transmission of rock art as immovable cultural heritage. Its limitations lie in the reliance on a limited number of sample areas, while the scalability and long-term sustainability of the proposed model depend on continuous data updating and interdisciplinary collaboration. This study innovatively integrates digital spatial context reconstruction into rock art knowledge organization research, examining how digital humanities methods reshape cultural heritage research paradigms at the level of knowledge production and interpretation. In this sense, digital spatial reconstruction does not merely serve visualization purposes but functions as a form of digital memory, enabling the long-term preservation, reinterpretation, and intergenerational transmission of rock art as immovable cultural heritage. Its limitations lie in the reliance on a limited number of sample areas, while the scalability and long-term sustainability of the proposed model depend on continuous data updating and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Keywords：

Rock art; Cultural heritage; Digital humanities; Digital spartial context

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