Protecting the Rock Art of Socotra

Socotra’s rock art is celebrated for its anthropic pictograms and petroglyphs, spread over several square kilometers, under open skies. Very few of these sites are known and properly documented. Furthermore, these murals are regularly threatened by vandalism, looting, tourism management , issues, and by the effects of climate change. The goal of this project is to focus on two major sites – the murals at Hoq Cave and the open-air petroglyph site at Eriosh – and study them so they serve as a blueprint for putting in place measures to manage, protect, and preserve rock art throughout the island. A second goal is to train local heritage practitioners and teams from the General Organization of Antiquities and Museums of Yemen (GOAM) on the documentation of rock art, as well as promotion of Socotra's art on a national and international scale. The ultimate aim is to ensure the conservation of these sites as well as to create long term-income generation for the local community.