24th November 2011, 09:35 AM
kevin wooldridge Wrote:I have just read the Antiquity article. Not a single mention of comparison to Lascaux, not a single mention of the word 'prehistoric'.
I am not remotely surprised. None of the journalists I have read seem to have read the article either; they are all quoting each other's misquotes. I haven't read the article yet either (because I don't have free access to Antiquity) but I look forward to it. I think there might be some very interesting (if slightly navel-gazing) issues that could be looked at with this example as a point of reference. How do we assign significance and how does that relate to prevailing mores? What is the purpose and what are the selection criteria for preservation? etc.
As for the graffiti themselves; photograph and paint them over; they're crap, they are of negligible 'significance', and I honestly can't think of anything 'less punk' than preserving them. What a terrible idea. Jonny Rotten will be spinning in his grave (now he has been reincarnated as a butter salesman).