Integration of remote-sensing techniques for the preventive conservation of paleolithic cave art in the karst of the Altamira cave

Rock art offers traces of our most remote past and was made with mineral and organic substances in shelters, walls, or the ceilings of caves. As it is notably fragile, it is fortunate that some instances remain intact-but a variety of natural and anthropogenic factors can lead to its disappearance. Therefore, as a valuable cultural heritage, rock art requires special conservation and protection measures. Geomatic remote-sensing technologies such as 3D terrestrial laser scanning (3DTLS), drone flight, and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) allow us to generate exhaustive documentation of caves and their environment in 2D, 2.5D, and 3D. However, only its combined use with 3D geographic information systems (GIS) lets us generate new cave maps with details such as overlying layer thickness, sinkholes, fractures, joints, and detachments that also more precisely reveal interior-exterior interconnections and gaseous exchange; i.e., the state of senescence of the karst that houses the cave. Information of this kind is of great value for the research, management, conservation, monitoring, and dissemination of cave art.This research was funded by the Department of Innovation, Industry, Tourism and Trade of the Regional Government of Cantabria in the context of aid to encourage industrial research and innovation in companies, project “SImulador Climático del Karst de cuevas de especial valor. (SICLIKA),” grant number 2016/INN/25

Surroundings of Altamira, an archaeological site around the cave of Altamira (Santillana del Mar, Cantabria)

RESUMEN: este artículo presenta la situación actual de la investigación sobre el yacimiento de Alrededores de Altamira a través de la revisión de los estudios publicados hasta la fecha y de los resultados obtenidos en la primera fase de investigación en el marco del proyecto de Altamira Prospecta desarrollado por el Museo Nacional y Centro de Investigación de Altamira. El estudio de Alrededores de Altamira permite profundizar en el conocimiento de los primeros pobladores de la zona circundante a la cueva de Altamira, así como conocer las estrategias que estas sociedades han desarrollado en este entorno a lo largo de una dilatada cronología, a lo largo de todo el Paleolítico.ABSTRACT: this paper presents the current situation of research on the Surroundings of Altamira site through the review of studies published to date and results obtained in the first phase of research within the framework of the Altamira Prospecta project, developed by the Museo Nacional y Centro de Investigación de Altamira. The study of Surroundings of Altamira allows us to deepen the knowledge of first settlers of the area surrounding the cave of Altamira, as well as to get a better understanding of the strategies that these societies have developed in this environment throughout a wide chronology, throughout the Palaeolithic

Painting Altamira Cave ? Shell tools for ochre-processing in the Upper Palaeolithic in northern Iberia

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