Limites de intervençao na conservaçao de superfícies de arte rupestre. Ocaso especifico dos afloramentos gravados do Vale do Côa

Considering previous conservation tests carried out in Coa Valley Rock-types (outcrops with no engravings but with similar weathering dynamics to those possessing rock art), the reasonable limits of conservation work intervention in rock art surfaces will be addressed. The fact that we are dealing with a work of art that exists for many thousands years in a context of natural evolution, forces us to pose methodological and conceptual questions. Taking into account that the entire engraved outcrop can be considered as the ‘art object’, do we have the 'right' to manipulate this 'total art object’ in a way that it becomes transformed it into something else? If conservation work is really necessary, should it be strongly determined by aesthetic and ethical concerns or, rather, should the conservative aim allow for the complete 'sacrifice' of the 'original’ work of art? These are, in short, some of the issues we wish to discuss in order to establish a compromise between the attempt to ensure the continuity of the Coa Valley rock art and conservation action.