Page 10 - AHATA

Tuesday 4 July 2023 locAl
A10

Episode XII

Geo Insular Patrimony

Rock Formations and Rock Art Sites

Two week ago was the last day
permitted by law on which the in-
habitants of thisisland had their op-
portunity to express and voice their
concerns and documented obser-
vations regarding ROP or insular
territorial and space management
plan for the next 10 years.

Document which had to be deliv-
ered at DIP, Aruba`s Department
of Infrastructure and Planning.
Remarkable was the impact the
Town Hall Meeting made, orga- more urgent risks to be dealt with
nized by the Island’s Chamber of by rock-art managers and conser-
Commerce and Industry revealing vators. The worldwide paucity of
the lack of information available experienced rock-art professionals
for the general public in finding signals that open-air rock-art con-
help to assess their individual situ- servation has not received the at-
ation problems and worries. A con- as Natural Monuments, island’s to participate in the conservation tention that other archaeological
solidated report request answers to endemic flora and fauna preser- of our Natural Heritage, the same remains have attracted.
the relative importance of all the is- vation, waste management and unfortunately cannot be said of
sues presented that night concern- demographic impact on the natu- rock-art situated in the open-air. Pictograph/Petroglyph
ing island’s territorial providence. ral environmentin relation with UN Very little has been done to un- In total ca 301 pictographs (in-
SDG indicators. derstand and managing weather cluding 3 petroglyphs) have been
We as Etnia Nativa`s voiced and effects and erosion phenomena found on Aruba. Of course one
share our knowledge in this mat- Our island has a significant col- affecting ancient imagery within drawing can be as little as a point
ter concerning the status and im- lection of prehistoric rock art sites. the relatively protected environ- or line that may be meant as a
portance of archeological sites, While efforts has been made in the ments of caves and rock formation separate drawing by the ancient
rock formations, historical as well past to educate the general public shelters. Despite the fact that the artist. Still, by counting every sep-
number of known sites has risen in arate representation that every-
recent decades there are few ex- body would call a drawing one
amples in which the weathering reaches at a total ofapproximately
and erosion dynamics are under 270 to 331 separate drawings rep-
investigation with a view to devel- resentationsover 17 sites.
oping proposals and to mitigate Drawings that are at tens of me-
the impact of natural and cultural ters distance of each other are
processes. Most of the work being considered one site, one cluster. In
done in different parts of the world fact, “sites” within a radius of 500 m
appears to be ad-hoc, with mini- are considered one cluster. Arikok
mal communication on such mat- contains one of the most beauti-
ters between teams and with the ful rock art collections of Aruba.
wider archaeological community. All pictures in this episode refer to
From the many calls for conserva- this particular site that is situated
tion of rock-art coming from very within the premises of Aruba’s Na-
different parts of the world it be- tional Park of the same name. Dur-
comes apparent that there are ing the study of the pictographs at
many threats to the perpetuation Arikok,4 clusters of drawings turned
of this significant heritage. out to be situated on one straight
line, more or less north-south over a
Nevertheless, while some authors distance of 415 m.
reference physical weathering as
the most pressing risk, others invoke This article features passages, with
the negative effects of biodegra- permission from the author, taken
dation, especially when lichen col- from the PhD thesis "Fernandes, A.
onization is concerned. In the pres- B., 2012. Natural processes in the
ent a relevant case study regarding degradation of open-air rock-art
vandalism at rock-art sites is rec- sites: an urgency intervention scale
ommended. We suggested that to inform conservation. Doctorate
the way emphasis is placed on the Thesis (Doctorate). Bournemouth
different forms of risk has much to University”q
do with the specific area of exper-
tise of each researcher involved, Source; Island Insight column by Etnia
and, more importantly, with the Nativa.
different environments where rock-
art exists. Hence, different settings
will determine which weathering
patterns are more active and pose