MONITORAMENTO IN SITU DE PARÂMETROS AMBIENTAIS NO SÍTIO ARQUEOLÓGICO CAMINHO DA CAIÇARA II, BRASIL.

The Caminho da Caiçara II archaeological site is located in the village of Cadoz Velho, a rural area in the municipality of Piripiri, Piauí, Brazil. It consists of a large vertical wall and a small sandstone block containing 101 rock paintings in red and yellow colors. There are abstract figures and human handprints, as well as a bird's footprint and a spear-thrower. There are rock engravings in the shape of cupules. This paper reports the results of in situ monitoring of environmental parameters such as ambient air temperature and relative humidity, rock temperature in areas with and without rock paintings, as well as the speed of the winds that reach the archaeological site under investigation. The experimental data obtained indicate that the thermal action on the pictorial films of the rock paintings from the Caminho da Caiçara II site is clearly more intense than in other nearby archaeological sites. Direct sunlight on the rock paintings for most of the day and year is the main agent responsible for the high heating of the pictorial films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]