Rock art vs cultural stone : some geomorphological perspectives on weathering and conservation under a changing climate

Abstract

While concern for the conservation of cultural stone and rock art continues to grow, so the gap between knowledge of the processes causing deterioration and those assumed to be operating increases. At the same time, in many instances, cultural stone and rock art are considered within the same conceptual framework. From a geomorphological perspective, such stone and rock art can be affected by weathering in fundamentally different ways as a result of the environment they are in and that which they generate themselves. Further, knowledge of, and data regarding mechanical weathering processes, especially under accelerated climatic change, is far from adequate. A brief attempt is made to identify the geomorphological differences between rock art and cultural stone, and to see how these may affect conservation practices at this present time. It is suggested that the weathering environments may not only be quite different but that lack of adequate (appropriate) data may be potentially deleterious to conservation practices due to the (often) unsubstantiated assumptions regarding weathering that are adopted.