Police are investigating the damage to a 6,000-year-old cave painting in southern Spain. According to authorities, ancient evidence that a person was willing to create was destroyed when a local man poured water. Why? He was trying to trigger a painting to take a photo for his Facebook page.
The paintings are located in the mountains of Sierra Sur de Jaén in the Province of Jaén in Spain. They are some of the oldest in the world and the UN has recognized their location as a World Heritage Site alongside Stonehenge and the Great Wall of China.
According to the report of the Spanish newspaper País, the police are investigating a 39-year-old man from the neighboring town of Los Villares in connection with this crime. They began their hunt in May when photos of graffiti in waterlogged caves surfaced online.
People like to take pictures of paintings, which is a common emotion. What’s unusual is that he pours water on them to make sure they shine and sparkle when photographed. After taking these pictures, the man posted them on Facebook and marked his location. It was not difficult for the authorities to track him down.
Dumbasses trying to score on social media are just four of the latest dangers in ancient cave paintings. In 2022, vandals sprayed a large Spanish flag over another nearby cave painting. The flag was so big that it could be seen from the nearby street. The same thing happened in Australia (also in 2022) when vandals destroyed 3,000-year-old rock art.
Vandals are bad, but the inevitable march of time and climate change are the two biggest threats to this precious art. As the planet warms and seas rise, we are losing access to some of these artistic wonders. It can be difficult to look at them at all, let alone protect them from idiots who want to capture them forever on social media.
In the south of France, there is a cave filled with paintings of prehistoric marine life, penguins, seals, fish, carts, and bears. Reaching it requires diving into the Mediterranean and navigating an underwater cave. Sea levels have risen significantly over the past decade and access to the cave is becoming increasingly difficult. Even worse, the changing tides are beginning to erase some of the paintings.
Whether it’s the pursuit of social media addicts or man-made climate change, humans are the force that will be destroyed by all of our creative endeavors.
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