Tone's Law

by Anthony J. Garot, Escabrosa Grotto with C. Brian Smith
Thanks to Robert Martin, Nittany Grotto

I just stated this principle as a lark at a presentation I was giving at the Escabrosa Grotto, Tone's Law, but it seems to ring true.  The law reads: in any accessible cave, you are going to see graffiti.  This is why, when I was asked later during the presentation "where is this cave?" I replied "somewhere in Arizona."  Now, I am fairly sure that my fellow grotto members know proper cave etiquette, but I am unwilling to take the chance until they have proven themselves to me . . . or unless I am there with them.

Humans possess an innate drive to write on cave walls.  This phenomena has been going on for tens of thousands of years.  The only difference between then and now, I suppose, is that today people use more interesting and esoteric implements for writing.  Perhaps another difference is that, today, we should know better.

Graffiti is defined at Dictionary.com as "markings, initials, slogans, or drawings, written, spray-painted, or sketched on a sidewalk, wall of a building or public restroom, or the like."  Graffiti is often considered tantamount to vandalism; however, the younger crowd may disagree with such an assessment.  If we consider the source of graffiti in basic terms, it would seem to stem from the desire to express oneself, a desire that should be fostered and cultivated.  However, there is a difference between defacing and creating.  Ultimately, the issue comes down to the adage, "there is a time and place for everything."  In this day and age, there are myriad acceptable places and receptacles for one's creative forces.

Is graffiti intrinsically bad?  It is difficult to assign the term "vandalism" to graffiti when some graffiti, because of its age, is lauded as important, impressive, and worthwhile.  For example, I had the opportunity to tour El Morro National Monument in New Mexico where I saw several inscriptions in the rock.




I will be the first to admit that I find this inscription interesting and ornate, and the fact that the person etched this in 1866 makes this historical as well.  However, the markings give a mixed signal.  Today's graffiti is tomorrow's art.  I think that a sensible and sensitive person can tell the difference, but even a child can sense the slight tincture of hypocrisy.

Many Arizona cavers have seen the 1951 photo of the National Geographic expedition where two men are pulling formations out of the cave.  The caption on the Central Arizona Grotto site under the picture is "AHHH, What are they doing ! ? ! ?"  It is apparent that there has been a cultural change of focus from then to now—a shift to preservation and conservation.  I believe this is due, in part, to a better understanding of the nature of caves.  The NSS claims graffiti is historic if it's older than 50 years.  Humans want to have a link back to their past, but in the last fifty years, we have realized that cave walls are no longer our best option to do so.

Caves can take onwards of tens of thousands of years to form and generally provide a delicate ecosystem for a variety of life forms.  Additionally, caves can provide a conduit for ground water to underlying aquifers, which is of great importance as cities become larger and larger.  Writing on cave walls—often with toxic chemicals—is deleterious and detrimental.  Caves decorated with speleothems can be enjoyed by many, but few enjoy the infantile scribblings that mar what time and nature has created.  While it is true that graffiti is a form of expression, there are many other outlets for releasing expression that do not damage natural beauty.

I think the worst cave graffiti that I have seen was in Grutas de Bustamante.  The graffiti was prolific and often placed upon huge, otherwise breathtaking formations.  Lipstick seems to be the most nefarious writing utensil used because it is greasy and difficult to remove.  Graffiti left too long on active speleothems will be encased forever under the next layer of calcite.




What can be done?  The most drastic measure for limiting defacement in caves is to gate the entrance and never let anyone inside.  I personally don't advocate this because a natural wonder should be shared with people who are safe and sensible enough to appreciate it.  Also, some caves, especially in Mexico, generate revenue for an otherwise impoverished village.  The next step is to gate and limit access, but unfortunately it can be difficult to police people.  In the case of Arizona, many caves lie upon public lands, and no funding can be found to gate the caves.  Additionally, gating caves may protect the cave from people, but hinder the passage of other creatures—especially bats—who use a cave for their home.

I've been on restoration projects.  The use of wire brushes,  spray bottle s using "water from the cave," power tools, and good, old-fashioned elbow grease are employed.  While this process cannot restore speleothems to their original beauty, it is a move in the right direction, and it's something you can do to help out.  Contact your local grotto for conservation projects.



My own personal reaction:

There is a cave in Austin, Texas called Whirlpool Cave, owned by the Texas Cave Management Association (TCMA).  When I first started caving, I quickly rose up to the challenge of leading beginner trips through this cave.  I took perhaps 200 plus beginners through this and other caves.  At the very end of Whirlpool cave, South cavern, is a room called Surprise Room, which hosted figurines fashioned from red clay.  The first time I came upon these figurines, I thought nothing of them; in fact, I added a few of my own.  I mean, these were figurines in one section of the cave, and they were kind of cool.  Then one day, I led a trip to the end of the cave, and someone pointed out to me that creation of figurines was no less than defacement.  At first, I didn't agree, but at the end of this very trip, I noticed that someone etched a word on a rock, clearly visible on the main route.  Now, to set the background, at the beginning of every beginner trip through Whirlpool, I emphasized that there are two main rules of safety: safety to you, then safety to the cave.  I elucidated further by stating that you don't touch anything, you don't write on anything, and you don't take anything.  The point of the beginner trips, as I further announced, is conservation and education—not just a good time.  There was no way for me to determine who had written the word on the rock.  It made me sad that someone would do this, even after I tried to emphasize the importance of keeping a cave natural.  Someone just didn't get it.  So I thought about this etched word, and I thought about the figurines, and I came to the possible conclusion that perhaps existence of clay figurines was giving a mixed signal.  Since I was in charge of beginner trips, the next trip I had several people help me remove the clay figurines, and I set the policy that there would henceforth be no more.  My cohorts displayed a slight reluctance at the thought of destroying the figurines, but after I explained to them why, I think they understood.



Later in my caving career, I saw things much worse than scratched words in rock and clay figurines.  I saw graffiti that I can only describe as being done for the sake of illustrating contempt.



This shot that I took in Bustamante shows that someone purposely climbed beautiful, ornate mushroom-like formations to "tag" it.  Not only is this gesture sad, but it makes me angry; and I half suspect that the person who did this did so just to evoke these emotions from future lookers.  There have been many restoration projects to this cave, yet new graffiti replaces the old.  I don't really know what the solution is.