Journal of Archaeological Science (2001) 28, 1329–1338

doi:10.1006/jasc.2001.0722, available online at http://www.idealibrary.com on

Automated Analysis of Environmental Degradation of Paint

Residues
Majid Mirmehdi and Alan Chalmers
Department of Computer Science, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1UB, U.K.

Lawrence Barham
Department of Archaeology, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1UU, U.K.

Louise Griffiths
Department of Computer Science, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1UB, U.K.

(Received 20 December 1999, revised manuscript accepted 20 May 2001)

The development of effective conservation strategies for the protection of rock art sites involves the assessment of the
taphonomic risks posed by physical and chemical weathering. This study outlines the methodology used in a pilot study
to monitor and model the deterioration of paint residues in a cave environment. Mineral oxide pigments were mixed
with water and placed on the walls of a cave in the Mendip hills (U.K.). The physical degradation of the paint residues
was simulated visually and modelled mathematically. A training stage learning the characteristics of a reference image
is followed by comparisons with this image as the test paints deteriorate. The study will be extended over three years
and digital image processing will be used to quantify changes in the colour and dimensions of the test paints. The results
will be correlated with micro-climatic variables. This methodology can be used to model taphonomic changes to rock
art and other forms of imagery in differing environments.  2001 Academic Press

Keywords: CAVE ART, TAPHONOMY, DIGITAL IMAGE PROCESSING, MENDIP HILLS.

Introduction Balter, 1999; Ward, Patterson & Watchman, 1999;

Watchman et al., 2000). These are some of the pro-

T
he preservation of parietal art in caves and rock
shelters depends on a complex interplay of local
and regional taphonomic factors operating over
time. These include the morphology and geochemistry
of rock surfaces as absorbent media and the effective
adherence of differing paint formulas (Clottes 1993).
Micro-climatic variables of temperature and humidity
operate on daily and seasonal cycles in concert with
variations in surface topography, exposure to light,
wind and the internal drainage of sites. Seasonal
changes in humidity and temperature can affect
the visibility and exfoliation of painted surfaces (e.g.
Lorblanchet et al., 1990), and experimental research
has shown that water from precipitation (and human
application) promotes chemical and physical changes
to painted surfaces (e.g. Mawk & Rowe, 1998).
Mineral crusts affect the visibility and preservation of
painted and engraved images and form under alternat-
ing wet and dry conditions combined with micro-
biological activity (bacteria, algae, fungi, lichen) (e.g.
1329
0305–4403/01/121329+10 $35.00/0
cesses that govern the preservation of art in the short-
term perspective of days, seasons and years. The
element of time complicates the taphonomic history of
rock art by increasing the likely degradation of rock
surfaces and pigments from exposure to chemical and
physical weathering. Global changes in temperature
and precipitation during the Pleistocene and Holocene
will have had differing effects on the preservation of
art depending on latitude and regional variations in
geology and topography (Bednarik, 1994).
Few taphonomic analyses of rock art have been
undertaken to date largely because of the inherent
complexity of weathering processes combined with
the need for longitudinal observations that can be
quantified. Rock art as a finite cultural resource
demands conservation and, in the context of heritage
management strategies, the taphonomy of paintings
and engravings is now of prime concern (Hyman
et al., 1996; Watchman, 1998; Ward, Patterson &
Watchman, 1999). A method of visually monitoring
 2001 Academic Press
1330 M. Mirmehdi et al.
and mathematically modelling changes to paint
residues is offered here based on the technology of
digital image processing (Clogg & Diaz-Andreu, 2000;
Robson Brown et al., 2001). Test spots of iron oxide,
iron hydroxide and plant charcoal have been placed on
cave walls in the Mendip hills (Somerset, U.K.) and are
the experimental basis of this study.
The Experimental Study of Pigment
Degradation
Conventional photography is an inadequate recording
medium for digital image processing. The transfer of
the image from camera to film and film to computer-
readable digital pixels introduces distortions that com-
promise the accuracy and precision of the image. The
use of a high resolution digital camera combined with
a standardized colour calibration chart will enable
precise monitoring of changes to pigments (Bednarik,
1995b). The long-term three-year plan is to carry
out monthly recording of pigments. Custom written
software will then be applied to compare images over
time and to quantify changes. The problem that is
addressed here is how to best analyse the image data.
Both colour and size analysis are important; colour
analysis to indicate if the spots have faded and basic
size analysis to indicate the changes caused by the
colour fading.
A separate pilot-study of the techniques required to
perform the analysis of the pigments was carried out by
applying sets of spots to the cave wall at Saye’s Hole in
Cheddar Gorge. Saye’s Hole is closed to the public,
which makes this a suitable site for the long term
observation of pigment degradation. This cave offers
varying exposures to light, water and temperature. Sets
of markings (as circular spots) were applied progres-
sively in increasing amounts and digitally imaged, thus
simulating, in reverse chronological order, the possible
degradation of the spots. This provided sets of image
data which show pigment spots in various states, from
what would be the original, full circular spots, to what
might be left after degradation, ie, as mere traces of the
original spots. With such images available, an investi-
gation can be carried out using a data set similar to one
that will eventually be analysed in three years time on
completion of the project.
For this pilot study, a circular stencil 34 mm in
diameter was used to standardize the size and shape of
the pigment spots. The pigments are from local sources
and mimic those used in French cave sites (Courard,
1988; Clottes, 1993): iron oxide (haematite) giving
a reddish colour, iron hydroxide (limonite) giving a
yellowish colour, wood charcoal in dry and in wet form
both producing a blackish colour. Calcium-rich cave
water was used as a binder, and the pigments applied
by brush to a thickness of 1–2 mm. A typical set of
images is shown in Figure 1. Each image incor-
porates a standardized colour scale produced by the
International Federation of Rock Art Organizations to
provide a benchmark for calibrating change. Digitally
recorded images are entered directly for computer
processing.
Any sequence of images taken over a period of time,
short or long, is exposed to variation in illumination
and scale changes from one image to the next. The
entrance to each cave visited is partially exposed to
daylight (and changes in ambient temperature and air
flow) introducing changes in illumination. Further-
more, the camera shutter is not synchronized precisely
enough with the flash, hence different images are
exposed to varying amount of flash. Under cave
conditions such variation can be quite marked. The
camera used could only hold one high resolution image
at a time and the data needed to be downloaded for the
camera to be ready for the next image. This combined
with its automatic zoom setting, introduced scale
changes from one image to the next. However, these
problems are corrected for in the image processing
stage. Such corrections would be unnecessary only if
the conditions were controlled vigorously enough to
maintain illumination and scale factors throughout
the whole project. This would be impractical given the
irregularity of the cave interiors and the difficult access
to the test panel.
Figure 1 shows one series of data which we will use
throughout this paper to report on the image process-
ing techniques used to process them. The images
attempt to simulate the degradation caused over a long
period of time.
Overview of the Processing
Digital image analysis, although used in various
branches of arts, sciences and engineering, is a complex
technique and has been most successfully applied in
medical imaging, product quality control and satellite
imaging (Sonka, Hlavac & Boyle, 1999). The more an
application is constrained and limited by pre-defined
conditions, and benefits from a priori knowledge, the
easier the task of analysis becomes.
Constraints which assist this study include the use of
a standard colour chart which remains constant and
against which reference data can be normalized. The
first image in a series is used as the reference image
(RI) to which all subsequent analysis is compared.
Real-time analysis is unnecessary thus the most
efficient and accurate techniques can be used.
Figure 2 outlines a schema of the main steps of the
automated processing. Two stages are involved: in
the first or training stage, the RI is processed and the
indicated information stored. In the second or testing
stage, similar measurements are made on each image in
the sequence and the results are compared with the
training data or the RI. We now briefly review our
proposed technique and in the next section describe the
main steps in more detail.
 Automated Analysis of Environmental Degradation of Paint Residues 1331

Figure 1. (a) to (f): One series of data that illustrates the variation in illumination and scale. Original images are of a resolution of 576432.
1332 M. Mirmehdi et al.
Figure 2. A schema of the main tasks in both the training and testing stages of the proposed method.
One major task in the analysis is to normalize each
image to a standard level of illumination, as it can not
be assumed that the lighting conditions are consistent
each time an image is taken. A colour chart is dis-
played in each image, and in order to normalize images
to a standard level of illumination, a simple measure is
computed on the colours of the colour chart. To
perform this, the colour chart must first be located
within each image. As the data used in the eventual
experiments will have been captured on different
occasions, the colour chart will not always appear in
exactly the same position in the image. It is not realistic
to locate manually the position of the colour chart in
each image, and as a result the program must be
designed to automatically detect the boundaries of the
chart. The problem of scale also arises as the data are
captured over a period of time. The camera cannot be
assumed to always have been at the same distance
away from and in the same relative position, even if its
lens parameters are reset accurately on each occasion.
For the RI, after locating the colour chart, the
colour information is recorded. This is used to normal-
ize other images. The whole of the RI image is then
searched to locate the circular spots. Spatial infor-
mation linking the position of the chart and the spots is
stored. This information is used to locate approxi-
mately the position of the stencils in the test images in
relation to the position of their colour chart. The
colour information in the circular spots in the RI is
then recorded for later comparison.
The Training Stage
This stage is entirely based on the processing of the
reference image RI, e.g. the image I6 as shown
in Figure 1(a). The steps involved are: locating
the position of the colour chart, determining the
normalization constants, locating the full circular
stencils, making measurements on the coloured area
within the circular area.
Locating the colour chart
Relatively precise localization of the colour chart is
needed for the normalization stage. A simple approach
to finding the colour chart would be to use template-
matching to locate an image area which resembles the
chart being sought. This would be a practicable ap-
proach but computationally expensive. To minimize
the amount of processing necessary, the template
matching process is performed on sparser image data.
The edge information contained in the image is used
as a mask to control where the template matching
is carried out. Initially, the original colour image is
transformed into a greylevel version F(x,y), where each
pixel (x,y) in the colour image I, with values R, G, and
B, (representing red, green, and blue) is transformed
using:
F(x,y)=0·291R+0·587G+0·114B∀(x,y)
I
Edge detection examines the gradient of the pixel
values of an image and locates all high frequency
changes from one position to the next. The method
used is described by Canny (1986) and consists of
filtering the image to maximize three criteria: good
signal-to-noise ratio, good spatial locality, and mini-
mum number of false responses. The result of edge
detection on Figure 1(a) is shown in Figure 3(a).
Conservative parameters are used to ensure the pres-
ence of as much of the colour chart edges in the edge
image at the expense of more noisy edge pixels. In this
application, loss of good edge data is more detrimental
than having to post-process some false edges.
Template-matching or correlation, involves the
location of the position in an image at which a
 Automated Analysis of Environmental Degradation of Paint Residues 1333
Figure 3. (a) Edge pixels of image I6, (b) the located colour chart in I6, (c) Inexact colour chart boundary in I5, (d) the refined colour chart
boundary in I5.
template gives an optimum match. The match is not
exact because of noise or small geometric and scale
differences. Here the maximum match serves as a good
approximate position. Given the template is the colour
chart itself and represented using h, F is the input
image in which the template must be found, and I is the
set of all edge pixels in the edge image E of the input
image, then the template matching criterion gives the
optimum match M at position (u,v) as:
By template-matching only at spatial locations indi-
cated as edge pixels, the amount of computation is
dramatically reduced.
The position and boundary of the colour chart
obtained via template matching is particularly good for
the reference image since the template comes from
the reference image itself (see Figure 3(b)). Further
processing is sometimes necessary to improve upon the
accuracy of the result as in the case for the boundary
obtained for image I5 shown in Figure 3(c). This result
is adequate but needs further adjustment to ensure
better accuracy. The fact that the colour chart is so
different from its immediate surroundings is used to
adjust this hypothesized positioning. Consider a side of
the border found, say the right edge. Pixels on the
inside of the edge will have an average value similar to
pixels on the outside of the edge, since the pixels are
very similar. This similarity ends as soon as the
hypothesized border reaches the real colour chart
border. The difference of the average pixel value is
computed iteratively for either side of the edge and the
edge pushed outwards until this average becomes
greater than a threshold. That position is nominated as
the true edge. The same procedure is performed for
each edge of the hypothesized border. The result of
such a refinement is shown in Figure 3(d).
Determining the normalization factor
Both natural light and irregular flash synchronization
on the digital camera can lead to grossly varying
illumination levels in our digital images. To make
comparisons between each image and the RI, the
former have to be normalized. Figure 4(a) and 4(b)
show the histograms of the RGB colour bands of
1334 M. Mirmehdi et al.

(a) Image I6 histogram (b) Image I3 histogram

(c) Red channels (d) Green channels

Figure 4. (a) Histogram of the RGB channels in image I6, (b) the same for image I3 pre-normalization, (c) Histogram of just the red channel
for I6, pre-normalization I3, and post-normalization I3, (d) as in (c) but for the green channel.

images I6 and I3 respectively. A general shift of the

pixel values can be observed. The mean R, G, and B
values are computed, in the colour chart area only,
of the RI and the target image that needed to be
normalized. The difference between these was the
normalization factor . Hence,
where TI is the image currently being tested, CRI and
CTI are the set of pixels in the colour chart area of the
RI and the test image TI respectively, and M=/CRI/
 Automated Analysis of Environmental Degradation of Paint Residues 1335

Figure 5. (a) Image I6 or the reference image RI, (b) I3 pre-normalization, (c) I3 post-normalization towards I6.

Figure 6. (a) Circles detected in I6, (b) Enlargened circles to ensure maximum coverage.

Figure 7. Hypothesized circles in images I3 and I1 using positioning relationships between the colour chart and the circles from the RI. In each
case, the inner circle is the first estimation and the outer circle is the expanded estimation.

and N=/CTI/. Note this will have to be performed three
times, once for each colour channel; it will provide a set
of values TI(R,G,B).
Before processing any test images, the appro-
priate normalization factor will be applied to the
appropriate colour channel. For example for the red
channel:
TI(x,y)=TI (R)+TI(x,y) ∀x,y
TI
This value must be clipped to remain within range of
the appropriate colour channel representation, (usually
between 0 and 255). The green and the blue channels
will be obtained in a similar manner using TI(G)
and TI(B) respectively. In Figure 4(c) and 4(d) we
can see the effect of the correction on the red and
green channels of image I3 respectively. Finally,
Figure 5 shows the overall effect on the normalized
image I3.
1336 M. Mirmehdi et al.
Figure 8. Colour spots and their segmentation against the back-
ground for images (a) I6, (b) I3, and (I1).
Detecting circular stencils
In the training stage, the circular spots in the RI are
expected to be completely round since they are made
using almost-perfect circular stencils. The search for
the images is carried out using the Hough transform
for circles (Duda & Hart, 1973). It operates on edge
pixel data and detects circles by accumulating votes
in a parametric representation space of all possible
Table 1. Table showing the size of each spot in each image. The number
of pixels classified as belonging to the spot given the size or area
Spot size (scaled), given by number of pixels
Image 1 (Red) 2 (Yellow) 3 (Black–Wet) 4 (Black–Dry)
I6 (RI) 2906 3341 2881 2982
I5 2888 3185 2743 2648
I4 2581 3000 2710 2220
I3 2086 2477 2449 1962
I2 1453 1411 2086 1339
I1 555 590 832 649
circles. This results in large votes in the parameter
space for specific circles for which supporting edge
pixels exist. The Hough transform may return a
number of circles across the image. A search for four
circles with almost equidistant centres that also lie
along a straight line of almost horizontal direction is
the basis for eliminating any undesirable circles. The
result of the Hough transform on image I6 is shown
in Figure 6(a).
The circle detection technique is not absolutely
perfect. Furthermore, it is highly dependent on the
quality of the input edge data. In Figure 6(a), the
second circle from the right is not quite correctly
positioned due to weak supporting edge information.
The radius size of the detected circles is increased to
ensure that all the coloured areas are incorporated into
the regions signified by the circle circumference.
Figure 6(b) shows this improvement.
Analysing the colour regions
Pattern recognition is the science of classification of
measurements. In the circular regions, simply speaking,
there are two regions, one that consists of the colour
pixels, and one that is the background. In reality,
pixels have varying values but the colour pixels have
chromaticity values much closer to each other than to
the background pixels. A data segmentation technique
called K-means clustering is used as the standard
pattern recognition method (Sonka, Hlavac & Boyle,
1999). It hypothesizes the existence of K classes. In this
application the value of K is 2. In general, K data items
are selected as class centres. Each new data item is
examined to determine its nearest class by Euclidean
distance to which it will then be joined. The mean of
the class is updated and new data items are compared
against the class mean value. The algorithm can be
iterated until all data items are classified satisfactorily.
Unfortunately, Euclidean distances make no sense in
RGB colour space. The pixels need to be transformed
into a colour space where the differences between the
colours are perceptually similar to the distance between
them. One such space is the CIE-Luv colour space
(Wyszecki & Stiles, 1982). The transformation of data
from RGB to CIE-Luv is straightforward and the
 Automated Analysis of Environmental Degradation of Paint Residues 1337

Table 2. This shows the mean RGB colour values for each spot at each stage of the sequence

Mean spot RGB values

Image 1 (Red) 2 (Yellow) 3 (Black–Wet) 4 (Black–Dry)

I6 (control) R 76 G 10 B 19 R 139 G 73 B 30 R 19 G 7 B 14 R 14 G 5 B 13
I5 R 76 G 13 B 19 R 136 G 72 B 31 R 21 G 11 B 18 R 22 G 12 B 20
I4 R 75 G 17 B 22 R 133 G 72 B 33 R 33 G 20 B 25 R 25 G 16 B 22
I3 R 78 G 32 B 32 R 129 G 77 B 42 R 47 G 34 B 35 R 41 G 32 B 33
I2 R 73 G 18 B 25 R 127 G 70 B 34 R 34 G 21 B 28 R 33 G 22 B 29
I1 R 77 G 36 B 39 R 121 G 77 B 50 R 55 G 42 B 45 R 58 G 45 B 47

results of K-means segmentation in CIE-Luv space are
more accurate than in RGB when judged subjectively.
The number of pixels is counted and the mean
CIE-Luv value is calculated in each colour cluster
of each circle and recorded as the area/size and
representative colour of the pigments in the RI.
Segmentation results are shown in Figure 8.
The Testing Stage
As illustrated in the schema of Figure 2, in this stage
the knowledge gained from the training stage is used to
examine each new image and record changes in colour
and size of the colour spots. Initially, the RI colour
chart template is used to locate the colour chart in the
test image TI. As shown in Figure 3, this may not
initially be very accurate and a refinement stage follows
which corrects for any errors arising from colour and
scale changes. Comparing the size of the colour chart
in the RI and the TI, a scaling factor is obtained which
is incorporated into all subsequent computations in the
TI. A normalization step is then performed as detailed
above using TI(R,G,B) based on the colour chart area
in TI.
One very important step in the testing stage is to
locate the circular region that will contain the fading
colour pigments. Since the pigments are fading and
non-circular, the Hough transform will not be ap-
plicable. The assumption is made that the faded re-
gions are still contained within a circular border along
with increasing background pixels. Assuming that the
colour chart is positioned at the same physical place as
before, the position of the centre of these circular
borders can be located by examining the relationship in
the positioning of the colour chart and the circles in the
RI. Their locations are already known in RI. Also
known is the position and size of the colour chart in TI.
By incorporating the scale differences, the centres of
the circular regions can be located in TI. Circle radii
are also increased to compensate for any scaling errors.
Figure 7 demonstrates this for images I3 and I1.
The close proximity of the circles can create
problems and it is intended that future markings will
be placed further apart from each other. As in the
training stage, K-means segmentation is applied to the
pixels contained within the circular region. Figure 8
presents zoomed versions of the full segmentation of
three images (I6, I3, and I1) next to their original
to allow close subjective comparison. The pixels are
divided into background and colour pigment within
the circular region examined.
The only method of comparison is subjective and the
results are remarkably good. Table 1 shows the spot
size count for the sequence of images. It can be seen
how the pigment areas decrease in size (with the scale
taken into account). Results in terms of colour values
are given below in mean spot RGB values. These
results are not wholly significant since the images were
taken on the same occasion and any variation is only
due to image acquisition noise and subtle changes not
corrected through normalization. With the final data
on completion of the project, however, the colour
results should alter more significantly, as over a long
period of time it is expected that the pigments will fade.
However, they will still be expected to remain suf-
ficiently in contrast to the background cave wall and
the segmentation algorithm will still work.
Conclusions and Future Plans
This paper presents a method to study the deteriora-
tion of colour pigments painted on cave walls. Digital
imaging is used to obtain images of the pigments at
varying stages of application. A reference image (i.e.
the first in the sequence) is selected against which all
other images could be compared. Using image process-
ing techniques, both greylevel based and in colour,
the area and colour of the cave pigments can be
monitored.
The method of image analysis was successful on the
pilot-study data and should be sufficiently robust to be
extended to other sites with only minor refinements.
Pigment test spots have now been placed in two
additional caves in the Mendips, each with differing
topography, lighting and exposure to weathering.
Digital images will be recorded monthly over three
years at all three sites. Changes in pigment colour and
adherence will be monitored and compared to seasonal
variations in local climate and cave microclimate. The
three-year period of observation will provide the data
for modelling the effects of weathering during the
1338 M. Mirmehdi et al.
Holocene and perhaps provide an understanding of
the absence of cave art in northwestern Europe.
Acknowledgements
The Maltwood Fund supported the pilot study and
subsequent funding from the Natural Environment
Research Council will enable the project to be com-
pleted. We thank the management of Cheddar Gorge
Show Caves and of Wookey Hole Cave for unhindered
access to their sites.
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