ABSTRACT
In many parts of the world caves continue to be used in traditional ways but such is their emotive power that their attraction as tourist destinations is posing serious threats to their survival and the practices that take place within them. It has been necessary to
restrict, or curtail altogether, visitor access to some of the most spectacular painted caves in France and Spain such as Lascaux, Pech Merle, Niaux, and Altamira while the exploitation for tourism of mummy caves such as those of the Ibaloi at Kabayan, Philippines (see Burials in Caves), is leading to an exponential increase in the rate of decay of the mummies themselves. Tourism may be seen as a 21st-century parallel to traditional pilgrimage and is a pattern of cave use in itself. As such, usage on this scale has to be managed for all and a number of famous caves have been designated World Heritage Sites.
