URL originale : https://books.openedition.org/editionsmsh/57938

Results, Prospects and Conclusions
p. 343-346
Texte intégral
1The Symposium “Lascaux and Preservation Issues in Subterranean Environments” has generated huge interest, including in the press; of the 267 registered participants, 21 were journalists. This interest is also international; other than France, seventeen countries from all continents were represented: South Africa, Germany, Australia, Bermuda, Brazil, Ivory Coast, Spain, United States, Italy, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Portugal, Czech Republic, United Kingdom, Switzerland and Zambia.
2The Symposium was «open», since anyone could register on-line and freely participate. The number and diversity of participants attest to the true success of this format. The sessions, including the debates, were completely bilingual—English and French—thanks to simultaneous translation.
3After these two particularly rich and dense days, my synthesis will focus on three main points: the format of the Symposium, the official announcements and principal results, and recommendations for the future.
4The format of the Symposium
5First, I would like to ask the Presidents of the sessions and the participants to excuse my stringency regarding the schedule. They needed to be strict and they were. Contrary to what usually occurs in meetings of this type, we began each session on time and all presentations respected the allotted time frame. This was necessary to ensure that the debates could last as long as the presentations, that questions could be asked on all topics, that diverse opinions could be expressed and that discussions could follow. I sincerely thank all participants for their efforts. In fact, each person took it so much to heart to not exceed their half hour of presentation time that we were left with more time than planned— around one and a half hours—for the debates.
6The presentations, which can be consulted on-line, addressed the main factors determining the preservation of Lascaux and other decorated caves, as well as the history of Lascaux, the problems faced, the measures taken and the current condition of the cave. Our colleagues from other countries, either speakers (Japan, Spain), or invited experts (South Africa, Germany, Australia, United States, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Portugal, Czech Republic), contributed valuable comparisons and diverse perspectives. In fact, because the preservation of cave art is a shared concern and because there are so many threats to this essential heritage, the problems and solutions are multiple and we cannot help but learn from each other.
7The many accounts given during and after the Symposium prove that the high quality of the presentations, as well as the freedom and richness of the debates, were recognized and appreciated. This meeting thus satisfied its goal. All the elements concerning Lascaux were clearly presented, including the errors that have been made. The debates went as planned, without concessions or doublespeak, and were completely transparent, whether concerning the decision-making process, the events that have occurred, the analyses carried out, the obstacles or difficulties faced or perspectives for the future.
8While it is obvious that everything is not settled, that our patient is not completely cured and that this symposium did not produce a miracle cure, we can hope that the misunderstandings concerning the events of the last few years have been dispelled for those who really care about one thing: saving Lascaux.
9Announcements and results
10At the beginning and during the Symposium, Ms. Christine Albanel, Minister of Culture and Communication, and Mr. Michel Clément, Director of the Architecture and Heritage Directorate, made several very interesting and concrete announcements concerning Lascaux. From the presentations, particularly those of Marc Gauthier and Jean- Michel Geneste, we also learned that some interesting decisions had been made and that several projects were underway.
11The first of these announcements, which set the scene, was that— unsurprisingly—Lascaux is considered by the Minister of Culture to be a major priority, to the point that financing will not be an issue for research and preservation. Such an announcement is so unusual, in whatever country, that it must be highlighted.
12The second concerns the Lascaux Cave Scientific Committee, whose mission will end in a few months. A tribute was made to its President, Marc Gauthier, and to its members who have been striving to save the cave under very difficult circumstances. This committee, for which multidisciplinarity must be the rule, will be renewed in May 2009. It will be even more open, more specialized and more autonomous. In particular, it will be separated from the steering Committee composed of administrators, while naturally maintaining communication between the two so that no efficiency is lost.
13A laboratory-cave with conditions very similar to those of Lascaux will be selected among several possibilities in the Dordogne department of France. It will be used to realize experiments in a natural underground environment, an essential procedure that evidently cannot be carried out in the decorated cave without risk. The results of these “tests” will be very useful in our attempts to resolve the problems faced at Lascaux.
14The cave of Lascaux itself has been recreated in 3D. The Lascaux Simulator recreates both its morphological and climatological conditions, thus allowing us to distinguish and prioritize its problems. It is obvious that the combination of these two methods (laboratory-cave and simulator) will greatly contribute to our comprehension of the phenomena and to decision making.
15Last but not least, the long-awaited “sanctuarization” of the Lascaux hill will finally be achieved. The replica (Lascaux II) should be relocated to the valley and the roads and car parks should disappear from the hill. This is a full-scale project, which will be realized in collaboration with the local communities (Commune and Department).
16All details concerning the condition of Lascaux were communicated. Marc Gauthier informed us that 14 painted or engraved animals (out of 915) have been affected by the black spots, in the right-hand part of the cave. Any is too many and even the slightest damage to any of the art works in the cave, whatever its nature, is sorely felt by those who love it, meaning all of us. This is nonetheless a far cry from the cataclysmic announcements we may have heard or read. No, the frescos of Lascaux are not “condemned” and no, the cave is not in “danger of death”!
17Finally, the presentations and discussions enabled us to experience first-hand the complexity of the problems faced, as well as—in this fragile and vulnerable setting—the difficulty of the working conditions and decisions to be made, often in emergency situations. The specialists insisted on the following points:
– a static and stable balance has never existed. On the contrary, changes in certain climatic parameters, which can influence the preservation of art works or wall surfaces, have always occurred. In this respect, several specialists showed without a shadow of a doubt that the evolution of the climate since the beginning of the 1980’s resulted in the termination of certain convection phenomena, an inversion of temperatures and a stagnation of the air, which was not previously known. This means that any decision regarding climatic assistance must take these observations into account, and that the former climatic assistance principles must be modified accordingly:
– atypical torrential rainfall was recorded at the beginning of the 2000’s; the restoration work undertaken—at the worst possible moment—and the errors made acted as a catalyst, triggering the microorganic proliferations whose consequences are still being experienced;
– it is impossible to return to a hypothetical original condition.
18What can we recommend for the future?
19Comparisons have repeatedly been made with the medical domain concerning the diseases that Lascaux suffers or has suffered from. It is true that all those who know the underground environment well know that it behaves like a living organism, with its own adaptation and self-regulation capacities or even the ability to regenerate when certain aggressions and changes remain within limits. Referring to this comparison, we can adopt the most basic adage of medical doctors, that of the Hippocratic oath, Primum non nocere.
20Transposed to actions in the cave, this implies two basic principles: we must never directly touch fragile decorated walls and we must conduct impact studies before implementing any new curative policy. In the right-hand side of the cave, we know that the surfaces are friable and that any scraping action, even with a very fine brush, will lead to a loss of substance. Such actions must be forbidden in the decorated areas since they will cause irreversible damage or unpredictable results—they may cause the infestations to reoccur. Impact studies to test the proposed therapeutic methods, rightly recommended by UNESCO, must be the rule. Though some can be conducted in a laboratory, the creation of the laboratory-cave described above will greatly facilitate these studies.
21Microbiologists have repeatedly insisted that spraying biocides can have harmful secondary effects, for example, by eliminating microorganisms that can limit the proliferation of harmful fungi, or even by creating organic elements or detritus that some can feed on. Among the possible orientations in this research domain, the following have been proposed:
– studying the genome of the microorganisms living on the walls, which can now be done with effective and rapid methods;
– exploring the path of bacteriophage viruses;
– testing various radiations that could stop the observed proliferations, or even reduce the melanin.
22Among the possible practical measures, R.-J. Koestler has suggested reinstalling the “Bauer Airlock” in order to isolate the right-hand side of the cave from the Hall of the Bulls and the Axial Gallery.
23As a logical follow-up to this symposium and in keeping with its open and multidisciplinary spirit, we can hope that there will be greater communication between specialists and that this will be facilitated on both personal and institutional levels. The vast amount of information collected must be correlated, which raises the problem of improving systems of collaboration between specialists and data management systems. To avoid the recurrence of misunderstandings, I suggest that a health report of Lascaux be established once or twice a year, and that it be made available to the public. Moreover, it would most definitely be favorable to plan for the organization of another symposium in three years, so as to evaluate the actions that have been taken in the meantime and their results, which we all hope to be positive.
24Lascaux is a tragic illustration of human errors, committed when fluctuating age-old equilibria are suddenly broken. Our efforts must now be concentrated on the future. We must leave behind us the crisis that began a few years ago and work to reestablish a new climatic and biological equilibrium, one that will never be the same as the one that long prevailed, but which will ensure the perennial survival of the paintings and engravings. Good can come from bad. Our Spanish colleagues have told us that they benefited from the precedence of the problems at Lascaux to make decisions regarding the management of Altamira. Furthermore, the presence of our colleagues from other continents, specialists of other cultures and other types of rock art, have enabled us to extend the conclusions to be drawn from this crisis to the scale of rock art sites worldwide.
25Rock art as a whole is one of the most important cultural heritage assets in the history of humanity and Lascaux is certainly one of its jewels, but even the most humble of decorated sites attests to ancient cultural beliefs and practices, and must be protected. Lascaux is a strong reminder of the fundamental necessities of conservation: we must above all limit the effects of human activities on decorated sites, whatever their nature, and on the surrounding environment. This is the main condition for their survival.
26Jean Clottes,
Chairman of the Symposium
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Lascaux et la conservation en milieu souterrain
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