‘Preservation by Record'

Conducting research at open-air rock-art sites poses a number of questions that in very general terms can be categorized as two kinds: one linked with the research question under investigation, the other with the past, present, and future state of rock-art itself. Rock-art preservation can be a subject of research in itself. However, in this chapter, I present the accomplishments of the ‘preservation by record’ approach that we have achieved during recent work at Zalavruga beside the Vig River, part of the White Sea rock-art complex, in northern Russia. Preservation by record is a key concept in heritage management. It applies where preservation in situ (keeping a site in an unchanged state) is impossible or impractical and involves making a detailed and comprehensive record before the material is lost. In the case of the White Sea rock-art, complex ‘preservation by record’ becomes essential when rock surfaces are stripped bare of any vegetation and the area is too big to install a protective cover.