Rock Art: The Changing Landscape of Conservation and Management (Readings in Conservation)

This wide-ranging anthology of notable writings by archaeologists, scientists, conservators, and other researchers is an indispensable guide to the conservation and management of rock art sites.

Painted and engraved marks and images on rock surfaces represent the oldest and most widespread form of human expression. Found globally in its original landscapes, with some images dating back fifty thousand years or more, the world’s rock art constitutes the most important body of latent knowledge about our deep past. Today, however, mass tourism, vandalism, theft, land development, and climate change are posing increasingly dire threats to this irreplaceable heritage.

This richly illustrated volume is the first interdisciplinary anthology to focus on the conservation and management of rock art sites. Its 133 readings survey the arc of published writings on the subject, ranging from early academic theories and oral narratives of Traditional peoples to an abundant selection of recent scholarship covering current best practices and advances in portable instrumentation that can be used in the field. Initial sections probe the origins and significance of these often-enigmatic forms, then survey scientific and technological methods of dating, monitoring, and documenting them. Subsequent readings discuss rock art’s physical characteristics and weathering, its importance to Indigenous communities, the decolonization of site management, the role of governments, the value of public outreach, and climate change. The volume closes with a selection of case studies drawn from major sites worldwide.

Neville Agnew is former principal project specialist at the Getty Conservation Institute. 

Janette Deacon is affiliated with the Rock Art Research Institute at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. 

Tom McClintock is a project specialist at the Getty Conservation Institute and secretary of the Rock Art Network.