Open-Air Rock-Art Conservation and Management: State of the Art and Future Perspectives

While much has been achieved in understanding and managing weather effects and erosion phenomena affecting ancient imagery within the relatively protected environments of caves and rock-shelters, the same cannot be said of rock-art panels situated in the open-air. This richly illustrated book evaluates rock-art conservation in an holistic way, bringing together researchers from across the world to share experiences of work in progress or recently completed. The chapters focus on a series of key themes: documentation projects and resource assessments; the identification and impact assessment of weathering/erosion processes at work in open-air rock-art sites; the practicalities of potential or implemented conservation interventions; experimentation and monitoring programs; and general management issues connected with public presentation and the demands of ongoing research investigations. This timely volume will be of interest to conservators, managers, and researchers dealing with aesthetic and ethical issues as well as technical and practical matters regarding the conservation of open-air rock-art sites.