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A man whose name has not been disclosed was traveling in the Sierra Sur de Jaén mountain range in southern Spain. The range is protected under Spain’s cultural heritage registry. He poured water over 6,000-year-old rock paintings to make them clearer for selfies, and the images have been irreparably damaged.
Agents from Spain’s Civil Guard Nature Protection Service (Seprona) launched an investigation after seeing the amateur anthropologist’s photos on Facebook. In his post he revealed the exact location where he took the pictures. He is now under investigation for a crime against historical heritage, IFLScience reported.
“The photographs show that the rock paintings were doused with water to enhance their clarity and visibility,” Seprona said.
The cave paintings were created on limestone that contains water-soluble salts. When water is poured over the paintings, these salts dissolve. As the water evaporates, the salts rise to the surface, leaving a crust that causes irreversible damage to the artwork, Seprona explained.
The agency responsible for protecting Spain’s historical heritage has urged citizens to report any instances of vandalism against rock paintings.
Such incidents are not isolated
Reports of damage to historical sites have also come from Italy. In Florence, authorities detained a 22-year-old German citizen accused of damaging a 16th-century statue in the Neptune fountain at Piazza della Signoria, CNN reported. The tourist, whose name has not been released, climbed over a protective barrier early in the morning to pose on the statue while two friends stayed on the other side photographing him. The incident was captured on surveillance cameras.
In 2022, vandals scratched a racist phrase onto 2,000-year-old Native American petroglyphs in Zion National Park in Utah. Those petroglyphs are the only surviving samples of ancient rock art from the local indigenous people.
It’s no wonder that the locations of most rock paintings, especially in national parks, remain closely guarded secrets.
