The thermal responses of rock art pigments: Implications for rock art weathering in southern Africa

The San rock art of southern Africa is an international heritage subject to degradation and loss resulting from weathering. The paintings occur within rock shelters, where many are exposed to direct solar radiation for varying periods, rather than occurring in dark caves. As part of a study on the factors thought to be impacting weathering, data were collected pertaining to rock and pigment temperatures as well as humidity within the rock shelters. In addition, XRD analyses were undertaken on pigment samples, and the pigment to rock and pigment to pigment contacts were investigated by means of SEM. Pigments were found to be composed of ferric oxide (the ochre) and a gypsum-clay mix (the white) and to occur as a layer on top of, rather than penetrating into, the sandstone. Noncontact infrared sensors were used to monitor the temperatures of the actual pigments while micro-thermocouples to monitor the surrounding (nonpainted) rock surfaces. Thermal data show that there are significant differences between the white and the ochre pigments, both in terms of actual temperatures and short-term thermal responses. Noticeably, the white paint exhibits (relatively) large thermal fluctuations, as compared to the ochre or the rock, over the 20-s to 1-min timescale; these thermal variations may induce pigment-to-pigment stresses within the painting. The pigmented areas also exhibit different temperatures to the surrounding paint-free rock, suggesting that there may be both within-painting and between painting and rock (including the rock beneath the painting) stresses that can lead to degradation. Humidity data were found to be inadequate for any meaningful evaluation of the moisture conditions.