SIARB
V International Rock
Art Symposium, Bolivia, September 18-24, 2000
The Bolivian Rock Art Research Society SIARB is organising its
FIFTH
INTERNATIONAL ROCK ART SYMPOSIUM which will take place in the city of
Tarija on September
18-24, 2000.
SIARB already organized 4 similar events which were carried out successfully in 1988,
1989, 1991 and 1997. The Fifth International Rock Art Symposium will deal with the
following:
- Session 1: Recording of rock art sites, discussed in a
forum among rock art specialists coming from several continents, exemplified in a Workshop
which will record rock paintings and engravings at a site near Tarija.
Chairpersons: Jane Kolber, ARARA and Rock Art Recording
School of the Archaeological Society of Arizona, and Freddy Taboada, SIARB.
- Session 2: Rock art in south Bolivia, NW Argentina and
north Chile.
Chairpersons: Alicia Fernandez Distel, Museo Arqueológico
Provincial. Jujuy, Argentina, and Carlos Methfessel, SIARB.
- Session 3: Sites, methods, theories and
archaeological/ethnohistoric
articulations.
Chairpersons: Mario Consens, CIARU, Uruguay and Guillermo
Muñoz GIPRI, Colombia.
Rationale of Session 1 (by Jane Kolber):
This conference aims to discuss appropiate
documentation (or recording) of rock paintings and engravings (petroglyphs), including
traditional methods as well as modern technology.
The utmost importance of a reliable and comprehensive recording of rock art sites is
obvious: it is the basis of all conservation, preservation and research of rock art.
Without it no valid or productive accomplishments can be achieved. Processes began with
simple sketches and photographs and have progressed to high technological methodology.
Each rock art site and project requires specific processes to meet its needs. The size,
location, construction, whether painted or engraved, cultural and archaeological
setting, accessibility, ownership and management, unique requirements and circumstances of
specific regions or countries all effect the processes chosen. Time, funds, skills, and
interests or the recording group also contribute to the limitations of the work. The
specific purpose whether for conservation, site management, research assignment, etc. must
be considered in planning the project. Determining the processes to utilize should be
based on these and other considerations. For these reasons a recorder,
conservator, researcher must know as many approaches and techniques as possible, where
they may either learn to produce them or obtain the services of those who can should be
available. To this end, this symposium is being held to enable the sharing of knowledge
and expérience in all areas of rock art documentation encouraging a broad spectrum of
ideas and methodology. Our goal is to gain a deeper understanding and more skills, with
the purpose of encouraging and facilitating the addition of more
documented sites and thereby more protected and researched rock art sites.
In previous meetings of rock art specialists in Latin America (including the four
international symposia organized by SIARB between 1988 and 1997) there have never been
sections dedicated entirely to the subject of rock art recording. While some investigators
in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia and other Latin American countries carry out rock art
research in a scientific way, in many cases, rock art recording is unsatisfactory: it is
not part of a comprehensive plan of investigation and/or management of sites, remains
incomplete, and sometimes even uses intrusive methods, such as chalking out of engravings,
which distort the existing rock art or endanger its conservation (such as wetting rock
paintings). Over the past 12 years,
SIARB has tried to promote non-intrusive scientific rock art recording. Its Fifth
International Rock Art Symposium will be an important step in this direction.
Section 1 of the conference will provide papers by international investigators on
different approaches and methods used in the documentation of rock art which will be
discussed among participants (presentations may be in Spanish, Portuguese or English - a
Spanish abstract will be provided in any case in a handbook including the program, etc.).
Recorders with different opinions, processes and purposes will make an oral presentation
of a maximum of 20 minutes. Each presentation will be followed by a discussion period (up
to 10 minutes). A final discussion evaluating over-all aspects of all given papers will
take place at the end of the session and should result in some guidelines for rock art
recording. There is also the possibility to present a poster on rock art recording instead
of a paper.
The Workshop will provide a rare opportunity to evaluate an existing partial recording of
a complex rock art site and try out and discuss alternative methods.
Some 100 investigators will participate in this event, mainly from Bolivia and Argentina,
with a few participants from other countries, such as Colombia, Brazil, Chile, USA, Italy
and Germany. Due to the characteristics of the workshop, only 20 people will participate
in this <recording school> who must all have previous experience in rock art
documentations.
The conference will take one week, divided into the following parts: 1st to 2nd day -
Section 1 (Recording of rock art). 3rd day - Section 2 (rock art along the Bolivian
Argentinian frontier). 4th to 7th day: Workshop.
Sections will start at 8.30 in the morning, with a coffee break and lunch break and go on
till the late afternoon. In the evening, there will be special presentations, such as the
inauguration of an exhibition on rock art of Tarija and the presentation of videos. The
workshop will take place mainly in the field, at the rock art site La Aguada, situated at
12 km distance from the city of Tarija.
There will also be a program of excursions to archaeological sites and rock art of Tarija
in the days preceding the symposium.
Papers: The registration of papers should be carried out by sending a summary with a
maximum of 150 words to the organizers by May 30th, 2000.
During the Symposium the complete text (print-out and disquette) must be submitted to the
symposium chairpersons. Papers are planned to be published in a volume of the symposium
proceedings.
There is a registration fee of $US 50. For further information,
contact:
Matthias Strecker, SIARB, Casilla 3091, La Paz, Bolivia (Tel./Fax: 591-2-711809, e-mail: siarb@acelerate.com).
Regarding tourism and hotels, contact:
Carlos Methfessel,
SIARB, Casilla 139, Tarija, Bolivia (Tel./Fax 591-66-30826, e-mail: methfess@olivo.tja.entelnet.bo)
Flights with LAB: Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano (LAB) is offering participants of this Symposium
a 20% discount on their fares, for flights from abroad as well as for domestic flights to
Tarija. Participants who wish to use this promotion must contact LAB´s regional office
(in the USA: 225 S.E. First St., Miami, FL 33131, phone (800) 327-7407) and submit some
kind of document that certifies their inscription to the symposium.