2 6 0 Rock An Heritage at Risk 2004/2005 ROCK ART Rock art, the most widespread cultural heritage of humanity, is arena has become established more or less as a diseipline of its constantly attracting a growing interest from rescarch and manage- own. ment institutions, education and tourism bodies and also from an It has sometimes been argued that this may not be to the advan- aware public. Research is steadily expanding within universities tage of 'pure' rock art research that should be directed towards the and other research institutions. This is above all noticeable from meaning and interpretation of rock art itself. This topic will most the increasing number of students' papers and doctoral theses probably also be a matter of debate in the future. But it seems dealing with rock art in recent years. This is a greatly encouraging obvious that management and research are two sides of one and fact for any specialist involved in this complex and delicate sub- the same coin. Without public investment in the development of ject. However, some fundamental changes that affect the chosen management, including the protection and conservation of rock art subject of study also seem to have occurred lately. This concerns sites, there would soon be very few sites left on which to do the funding Situation, especially in Europe where the traditional research. And without research there would soon be very little of funds from universities and research Councils have become consid- interest to teil the educated public about the meaning and further erably smaller affecting the possibilities and choices of the pre- archaeological implications of rock art. It seems that one key fac- ferred research aim. Most of the main funding is now accumulated tor in further integrating these two fields is documentation itself. within the research and education programs of the European Com- Documentation, whether performed using traditional methods mission and Union. This change of research funding provider has such as rubbing or tracing or with modern high-tech laser-scan- affected quite considerably not only the possibilities of following a ning, provides researchers with the possibility to get to know rock traditional academic career but also the choice of research topics art in situ with all its detail and additional artistic values. Details and contexts in rock art. are often revealed which are crucial to understanding the meaning The latter phenomenon is evident from a growing number of and therefore the interpretation of the message conveyed in the applications and approvals for European Union financed projects rock art. Applied in a conscious and careful way high-tech meth- in previous years in the Mediterranean and Nordic countries. ods can be a considerable aid to recording and storing this Infor- Sometimes these projects arc based on co-operation between these mation, as well as in bringing it from its natural location in the two regions. Hopefully, this widening of the sphere of participa- landscape into the laboratory where it can be subject of further tors has had a positive influence also on the target topics and scope analysis and study. of studies. It has been further promoted by the fact that prehistoric It is important to stress that this development of cross-border rock art in Europe and especially that from the Neolithic and the research is not unique to Europe, however strong it may be there at Bronze Age share many features of chronology, context and the moment. In Southern Africa a partially similar Situation is tak- imagery, such as between Bohuslän and Lombardy and different ing place with the Southern African Rock Art Project (SARAP) parts of Spain and Norway. that was initiated in 1995 at a joint ICOMOSAVHC meeting in The most signilicant outcome of this intensified European Co- Harare in Zimbabwe, focusing on the need for a common regional operation seems to be a shift of focus from traditional university management strategy for rock art. The main aim of SARAP has research topics. such as dating and the meaning of rock art to become that of identifying a rock art site in each Southern African those dealing with the conservation and management of the sites. country eligible for a serial nomination to the World Heritage List. It is perhaps better described as an enhancement of an already After having reeeived funding for this purpose from the Norwe- existing research trend where aspects of documentation and man- gian development aid agency NORAD in 2000/2001, a group of agement have become increasingly important. In many countries sites for nomination were seleeted consisting of Kondoa in Tanza- including Norway, Spain, Great Britain and in the USA research nia nominated in 2000, Brandenburg and Twyfelfontain in Namib- on the management of rock art as part of a wider archaeological ia (being nominated), Drakensberg of South Africa nominated in mm Tfr. j&LuJ&fe mm Nine Mile Canyon, USA (photo: Jean Clottes) ST Heritage at Risk 2004/2005 Rock An 261 ijf.'»"-.. Nine Mile Canyon, USA (photo: Jean Clottes) t a- ü- .1 • z. »d ^•SP^wy**•"" Tsodilo Hills World Heritage site, Botswana (photo: M C Truscott) • 1 1999, Tsodoli of Botswana nominated in 2000, Dedza-Chongoi of Africa but also in certain parts of Asia and the Amcricas, although Malawi nominated in 2001. Nominations arc in progress for thc the Situation is slowly but steadily improving. Other than the rock paintings of Matopos in Zimbabwe, Kasama in Zambia and above African sites. there are also sites such as Zalavruga of the Manica province in Mozambique (see Deacon 2004). coastal region in Karelian Russia, Gobustan in Azerbaijan and This important and progressive initiative of the Southern Seimuly Tash in Kyrgyzstan, the latter probably being the most African countries is also an attempt to fill the well-known gap of outstanding site of all. In China there are several rock art sites con- rock art sites from developing countries on the World Heritage ccrned. one being Helan Shan. In the Americas are also several of List. There is now a conscnsus that such a gap exists not only in which one of the most important is Nine Mile Canyon in the USA. 2 6 2 Rock Art Heritage at Risk 2004/2005 cause problems in the evaluation process and make the establish- •- -' ment of a site's 'outstanding universal value' difficult or impossi- ble. Such a lack of documentation may very well pose as big a w«* threat to the future of a rock art site as the above human factors. Sfi Once nominated and inscribed on the World Heritage List a site would have a much brighter future regarding funding for manage- ment and research. If the nomination process fails there is a big risk that such a site will lose much of its positive appeal. Therefore, in order to counteract these problems and to improve the current Situation there is an immediate need for some guidelines in this area. A first step could be to dehne and establish a common documentation Standard - a minimum Standard - that could be easily applied almost anywhere without high costs and technical problems. Such methods have already been developed in some of the European Union projects based on traditional paper rubbing and plastic tracing records that are scanned and comput- I erised to enable subsequent treatment and use. Similar efficient methods have also been developed in Southern Africa to record rock paintings. This need for simple and reliable recording meth- ods is also matched by an equal need for a general and easily accessible database recording System. Such a System is under development by CAR - ICOMOS in co-operation with the Centro Camuno di Studi Preistorici on whose earlier WARA System it is partly based. In contrast to that System, it will however focus more on basic information about the rock art and its documentation than the symbols, and its meaning and interpretation. The World Heritage site of Valcamonica has been the focus of earlier Rock Art at Risk reports. Also this year it has been the focus of a Reactive Monitoring Mission jointly undertaken by ICOMOS and the World Heritage Centre as a result of several sug- gestions of site mismanagement. Although the mission report is . ^^Wv still in preparation some important observations can already be made. Many panels have been recorded at the site throughout the Tsodilo Hills World Heritage site, Botswana (photo: M C Truscott) years, yet there is an obvious lack of a basic reliable and readily accessible documentation System. Such a System should be based on the refined recording methods using plastic tracings that were developed by the CCSP's research institutes in the Valley. The Sys- tem currently in use by the responsible State authority, the Sopraintendente in Milan, is based on digital photos and is not well-suited to record imagcs and sccncs, although it might be appropriate for recording erosion and other damage. Another Observation is that State authorities, such as that in Milan, should put more effort into initiating and co-ordinating research already This complex of sites is now being severely threatened by a gov- being undertaken by various players, rather than put too much ernmental initiative to exploit the water resources. A similar threat emphasis on doing such activities themselves. Otherwise they may has developed at the impressive site of the Burrup Peninusula, at end up in a Situation where they do not contribute to an expansion Dampier in Australia now immediately threatened by mining of areas of research but instead limit them. This would in turn pose infrastructure. Further examples from various parts of the world new threats to the Valcamonica rock art, which would be unaccept- could also be mentioned. able since this is one of the original centres of such activities. A difficulty often occurring in nominating sites to the World Heritage List and especially in developing countries is the problem Ulf Bertilsson of survey and documentation of the rock art panels. This basic President of CAR-IC0M0S information and data needed for the identification, evaluation and verification of the sites and their condition is often completely missing or incomplete. [f it exists it has often been collected and recorded a long time ago in the days of colonialism and in a form and in media that are not conducive for a nomination to the World Heritage List today. In this sense, it is correct to say that the con- References cept of 'rock art at risk' does not signify only the immcdiate Bertilsson, U 2004, Recent trends in rock art management and research threats to sites posed by increased detcrioration caused by worsen- of the Nordic countries - a personal overview. In Bertilsson, U, and ing climatic conditions or human intervention with intensified L McDermott (eds) The Valcamonica S y m p o s i u m s 2001 and 2002. Rap- port frän Riksantikvarieämbetet 2004:6, pp. 100-113. infrastructural development and planning. At nominated sites, it Deacon, J 2004, Southern African Rock Art in the New Millennium. should also include the Situation rcgarding their survey and docu- Bertilsson, U, and L McDermott (eds) The Future of Rock Art - a World mentation, as inadequacies and shortcomings in that respect may Review. Rapport frän Riksantikvarieämbetet 2004:7 pp. 120-131.