The Janus-faced Dilemma of Rock Art Heritage Management in Europe: A Double Dialectic Process between Conservation and Public Outreach, Transmission and Exclusion

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this paper, we discuss the management strategies applied to rock art in Western cultural contexts (France and northern Spain). How do the persons responsible for rock art sites manage the tension between their conservation and long-term transmission, and their opening to the public to enable their heritage value to be shared and transmitted in the present? Drawing on a typology of the many possible configurations, we discuss the choices made by the actors in charge of decorated sites. We thus demonstrate that the implementation of quotas depends on the priorities of the decision-makers and their interpretation of the preservation of a decorated site. Finally, our empirical approach leads to a discussion of the accessibility of rock art sites from the angle of heritage access rights and the heritage-making process. What meaning do we ascribe to sites that remain closed and thus cannot be experienced by the public?