Предварительные данные об изображении верблюда в зале Хаоса пещеры Шульган-Таш (Каповой)

Since 2014, the Republic of Bashkortostan has been consistently implementing the program aimed at improving the state of preservation of the Shulgan-Tash (Kapova) Cave and giving better access to accurate information on the cave art. This program entails visitors' graffiti removal from the cave walls, a project launched in 2015 and preceded by consultations with Russian and European experts. The method was previously tested while removing graffiti in the French Cave of Rouffignac as well as other rock art sites. After two years of work, the restorer's team headed by Eudald Guillamet removed more than 800 graffitis on an area of about 120 square meters enabling the new recording of the images in the cave. The next stage of the program approved by the Government of the Republic of Bashkortostan was to improve the appearance of the panel with animals and geometric figures in the Chamber of Chaos, which had previously been subjected to a partial removal of calcite. In the fall of 2017, the image of a camel was revealed from under calcite sediments. The calcite layer was thinned with electromechanical steel drills with diamond coating. This technique was used to reveal images in the cave of Arcy-sur-Cure. According to the preliminary data, one may assume that the camel image is made in one color, and the visual difference between the dark and light paint within that image is due to the state of preservation on the edges of the figure - the charcoal was washed down with water back in prehistoric times. The paint of the better-preserved central part of the image, as well as that of the geometric sign to the right, does contain the charcoal, which was determined using the infrared photography and microanalytic techniques.