ISPRS-Annals ISPRS Annals of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences ISPRS-Annals ISPRS Ann. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci. 2194-9050 Copernicus Publications Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/isprsannals-II-5-W3-53-2015 Documenting the light sensitivity of Spanish Levantine rock art paintings del Hoyo-Meléndez J. M. 1 Lerma J. L. 2 López-Montalvo E. 3 Villaverde V. 4 Laboratory of Analysis and Non-Destructive Investi gation of Heritage Objects, The National Museum in Krakow, ul. Piłsudskiego 14, 31-109 Krakow, Poland Department of Cartographic Engineering, Geodesy and Photogrammetry, Universitat Politècnica de Valenci a, Camino de Vera s/n, Edificio 7i, 46022 Valencia, Spain French National Centre for Scientific Research, TRACES UMR 5608 – Université de Toulouse II – Jean Jaurès. 5, Allée Antonio Machado, 31058 Toulouse, France Departament of Prehistory and Archaeology, Univers itat de València, Blasco Ibañez, 28, 46010 Valencia, Spain 11 08 2015 II-5/W3 53 59 Copyright: © 2015 J. M. del Hoyo-Meléndez et al. 2015 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This article is available from https://isprs-annals.copernicus.org/articles/II-5-W3/53/2015/isprs-annals-II-5-W3-53-2015.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://isprs-annals.copernicus.org/articles/II-5-W3/53/2015/isprs-annals-II-5-W3-53-2015.pdf

A case study to evaluate the use of microfading spectrometry (MFS) for the study of colored systems found in prehistoric rock art paintings was conducted in the Cova Remígia rock-shelter, Castellón (Spain). This rock shelter is part of the rock art sites of the Mediterranean basin on the Iberian Peninsula included in UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Some of the paintings belonging to this group are exposed to environmental factors including natural daylight, wind and rain, depending on the time of the day and the season of the year. Therefore, their preservation is a major concern to stakeholders and researchers responsible for protecting and studying these prehistoric paintings. The experimental work in Cova Remigia focused on measuring the reflectance curves (400-700 nm) and determining the photostability of various areas containing red and black pigments on the rock art paintings. The preliminary results indicate that MFS is a suitable technique for studying the response to light of rock/pigment systems found in rock art sites. The advantages and limitations of the technique are discussed.