An outsider's testimony
on the state of the Lascaux cave and its paintings (International Newsletter on Rock Art - n° 62) |  |
| An
interesting article has just been published in issue 62 of the
"International Newsletter on Rock Art", the editor of which is Jean
Clottes, former Curator General of the Heritage at the Ministry of
Culture and Communication, chairman of the Rock Art Commitee of ICOMOS. The article, written by the scientific journalist Pedro Lima, reports on the visit of the cave he made in June 2011 together with Jean Clottes and Muriel Mauriac (the present curator of Lascaux) and brings his testimony on the state of the cave and its paintings. What the author reports in his paper relative to the state of the cave confirms the testimonies we could obtain indirectly from various sources. There is little doubt that the firmly implemented decision of Muriel Mauriac to limit interventions in the cavity to a strict minimum, as well as the various steps made to return to the preservation conditions that existed before the last crisis (modification of the climatic assistance machine which now works on a principle similar to that of the so called "Guyon" machine, reconstruction of the isolating roof above the Machine Room, repair of the sliding vents already completed for some of them and under way for others, ...) have resulted in an obvious and reassuring visual attenuation of the black spots and the return of the brilliance of the colors, certainly due to an increase in the relative humidity of the cave's atmosphere. In this respect, we note with satisfaction the carefull comment of the author who states, in the second paragraph of page 4, that "A layman's visual assessment notes the undeniable good health of the Lascaux paintings...". Indeed, though the author could judge this good health by comparison with his memories as he visited the cave in 1999, i.e. before the last crisis, his visual observation does not allow one to state that the cave is cured and that a new crisis is not imminent. Pedro Lima seems to be well aware of that as suggested by several of his remarks. This precise, well documented and comparative testimony, the first one since quite a time, from a person who has never been involved in handling the cave is precious for estimating the state of the cavity after the acute phases of crisis that the cave went through during the last decade. Nevertheless, some points of this testimony deserve being discussed, and even corrected. - in the last paragraph of page 1, it is written that the climatic assistance machine "had become obsolete ...". One should ask which criteria were used to define this obsolescence. Indeed, we heard the term "obsolete" being applied to the Guyon machine for the first time by Jean-Michel Geneste, former curator of Lascaux, during the Lascaux Symposium of February 2009, based on the statement that this machine was no longer adapted to the claimed "new external conditions" calculated by the Lascaux simulator for the "present" period. This statement was repeated on several occasions by Professor Yves Coppens, chairman of the Lascaux Scientific Council, during the first months of his term. This is however mere speculation: the reliability of the simulator remains quite limited (see our analysis of the simulator published on this site) and the predictions based on its results have not been corroborated by facts: contrarily to its predictions, the convection currents in the cave that had disappeared during the crisis have spontaneously returned as soon as 2008-2009. It is regrettable that, without any apparent justification, the Guyon machine is again qualified of "obsolete". - page 2, first paragraph: the author reported that the fungus Ochroconis is the causative agent of the black spots. This statement has indeed been made (without naming the species) in December 2010 by Thierry Heulin, member of the Lascaux Scientific Council, during a press conference given by Yves Coppens. Yet, serious doubts still exist about this statement, and it is very possible that black yeast are indeed involved in the melanin deposits (see final report on the "Microbial Ecology" program) - page 2, first paragraph again: the author indicates that "Certain stains developed near the paintings, or even on top of them, ..." while Jean-Michel Geneste has, on several occasions, claimed that no painting had been touched. This contradiction should be solved. - page 5, first paragraph: contrarily to the authot's statement, none of the quoted research programs, whose final reports have recently become accessible on the ministry's website (see our information dated March 1st), brings the slightest piece of scientific data or the faintest evidence of a "return to climatic or microbial stability". A climatic stability does not exist, as there is an annual cycle of changes in temperature and CO2 pressure in spite of the climatic assistance machine and CO2 pumping. And the final report of the "Microbial Ecology" program clearly indicates that the microbial communities studied in various areas of the cavity do not stop evolving. The notion of "stability" to which the author is refering should therefore be specified. In spite of these few imperfections, this article deserves being consulted by every person curious of the fate of the Lascaux paintings. Reference of the article: P. Lima (2012) Lascaux: Back to balance, INORA, 62, 1-7. Not available on internet, the article can be obtained from: INORA, 11 rue du Fourcat, 09000 Foix - France. Subscription to the INORA, at the cost of 20 € per year, gives right to the three annual publications. | History (in French) LIST charter LIST members Scientific documentation Pending questions (in French) Contact us Back to home page |