Aesthetics, ethics, and rock art conservation: How far can we go? The case of recent conservation tests carried out in un-engraved outcrops in the Côa Valley, Portugal.

Drawing on recent conservation tests carried out in the Coa Valley, we will discuss the aesthetic and ethical limits of rock art conservation work that are reasonable. The whole outcrop, which exists in a certain context that evolves according to a natural and social timetable, is the object to be considered and conserved. This fact should lead rock art researchers, conservators and managers to engage in a long overdue discussion. Do we have the right to manipulate a total art object in a way that changes it into something else? If conservation work is prove to be reallyy necessary, should aesthetic or ethical values be sacrificed – at any cost – to the goal of preservation?