Conclusions

Like any cave system, the Lascaux caves are a complex, living environment where different physical, chemical, and biological processes are constantly taking place and are subject, with a delayed effect, to external influences transmitted through rock, water, and air. The cave paintings are affected by the thermal, hydrous, chemical, and biochemical exchanges between rock and air.

Studies have revealed the relationship of this cave site to its environment; they have clearly shown that the equilibrium reestablished after all the changes the caves have undergone since their discovery in 1940 is of an extremely delicate nature.

The best possible conditions for the conservation of paintings have been achieved as a result of the smooth functioning and maintenance of the mechanical equipment. This is used to regulate the temperature of the caves through the operation of heat exchangers.

For Lascaux, as for other archaeological sites where wall paintings or drawings have finally been brought into a state of equilibrium with the environmental conditions, the authors agree with Mora, Mora, and Philippot (1977). These authors find that the best solution is to ensure conservation in situ by means of an overall air-conditioning system designed either to maintain the original conditions or to modify them very gradually, if and when necessary, under very close supervision.

Scientific conservation of cave sites depends largely on the ability to predict climatic and atmospheric changes, an ability that is grounded in knowledge of the changeable nature of the atmosphere. This understanding is essential in designing a conservation strategy that takes these parameters into account along with the need to obtain information concerning them as quickly as possible through the monitoring of both normal conditions and exceptional phenomena. Conservation professionals now have access to sophisticated equipment, such as reliable, battery-operated, high-performance telemeasuring units that, apart from being versatile, adapt to their environment and transmit information about it. Thus, it is now possible to control, organize, and influence most historic monuments at will, be they aboveground, half buried, or subterranean.