NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN ROCK ART IMAGING:

Recovered image of a deer,

white lines reproduced on the

computer generated image,

Grottes d'Agneux II,

archaeology.org.

Back in the 1980s I was contacted by a small tech startup company that was developing what they presented as new technology for imaging. Essentially, their work involved taking a number of high definition photographs of a site and then performing magic in a computer that turned them into a three dimensional image that could be used among other things, for taking precise measurements. They were looking to develop new markets and wanted me to guide them to some archaeological sites. I countered by offering to take them to some rock art sites, and they accepted although not fully enthusiastically. I think they pictured themselves working at places like Mesa Verde, but, with me, they ended up in the Picketwire River Canyon south of La Junta, Colorado, recording two different petroglyph sites. I had it in mind that what they had been promoting to me might be useful for things like analyzing superimposition, and bringing out details that might be difficult to see from just one angle. I never found out because after our return to home I never heard from them again, and never even got a response to my inquiries. My guess is that they were less than successful. I bring this up as an introduction to the following subject.

Scientists have recently recovered the engraved images of a horse and a deer from one of two caves known as Grottes d'Agneux in eastern France. The images on the walls of Agneux II had been totally obscured with layers of names, initials, and graffiti left by visitors from the 16th to 19th centuries.

"Scientists with the university (of Tubingen) in Germany and researchers from Spain recently used scanning technology to peer through graffiti layers, reconstructing carved prehistoric images of a horse and a deer buried underneath. After scans revealed the figures, the scientists reconstructed the artwork with image-processing software." (Weisberger)

Although the articles I have seen so far do not mention the specific technology I suspect that the work was done with a laser scanner. I can imagine a process like Lidar should be quite effective.

Having recovered the images "then, they used charcoal found in the caves in order to determine the age of (the) drawings. Using carbon dating, researchers determined that both pieces are approximately 12,000 years old and belonged to the Upper Palaeolithic period." (Bashir)

Modern technological developments are allowing almost miraculous new techniques in analysis, imaging, and recording. This might truly be the golden age of rock art studies.

NOTE: The image in this posting was retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain photographs. If this image is not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them. For further information on these reports you should read the originals at the sites listed below.

REFERENCES:

Bashir, Hira

2018 Prehistoric Cave Art Found Hidden In Graffiti, November 16, 2918, https://www.i4u.com/2018/11/130135/prehistoric-cave-art-found-hidden-graffiti

https://www.archaeology.org/images/News/1811/France-cave-grafitti.jpg

Weisberger, Mindy

2018 Ice Age Cave Art Found Under Layers of Centuries-Old Graffiti, November 15, 2018, https://www.livescience.com/64099-cave-art-under-graffiti.html