A technical team from Izmir have examined the 8,000-year-old rock paintings discovered in the Karadere Cave in the Latmos Mountains at Bafa Lake, in order to protect them.

Karadere Cave, located in the Karakaya Neighborhood borders of Söke district in the Latmos Mountains, contains 8,000-year-old rock paintings.

Work has been initiated to protect the paintings that will shed light on history. Within the scope of the work in question, a technical team from the Izmir Directorate of Surveying and Monuments conducted examinations.

Bahattin Sürücü, President of the Ecosystem Protection and Nature Lovers Association (EKODOSD), said: “The most important features of the Latmos Mountains, which have unique geography, interesting rock formations, traces of human life dating back thousands of years and are admired by everyone who visits, are the prehistoric rock paintings.

“Regstration studies for the protection of the rock paintings identified by German archaeologist Dr. Anneliese Peschlow are being continued by the Aydın Cultural Heritage Protection Regional Board Directorate.

“There are also different threats in Latmos, whose natural and cultural landscape has been severely damaged by mining activities. Since there is no holistic protection status in the Latmos region other than archaeological sites, it is seen that even if the rock paintings are registered, they are under threat due to uncontrolled use in the area.”

Noting that they saw the most concrete example of the threats in the first Göktepe painting found in 1994, Sürücü said, “The paintings consisting of schematic and naturalist drawings in the Göktepe rock shelter reflecting ancient spring festivals were damaged by applying a liquid on them by an unidentified person or persons.

“Fires are lit in some caves without knowing whether there are rock paintings inside or not, and writings are written on some rocks. However, such actions should definitely not be carried out in order to prevent the paintings that can be noticed by an expert eye from being lost or damaged.”

Although most of the rock paintings depict “family scenes”, it is seen that the paintings in the Karadere cave are very different from the others. When you enter the shelter, the different erosion of the rock surface and the magic of the colors formed on the rock impress those who see them very much.

Dr. Peschlow stated that this place is a primary area of ​​painting that needs to be protected.

Sürücü concluded: “The  Aydın Governorship had the Miletus Museum experts examine the area as the museum responsible for the area and reported it to the relevant institutions. The technical team’s report will be sent to the relevant institutions for approval. We hope that the protection project will be implemented as soon as possible and it will set an example for other important rock paintings.”