Conservation and Protection
Many petroform sites are important archaeological areas that need to be protected from vandals and misuse. In the past, many petroform sites have been disrespected and even destroyed. More education is needed to ensure that petroforms are not neglected or damaged by excessive numbers of visitors to these sites. In some cases, sacred, intact, remote sites should not be disturbed at all, except for important research and exclusive ceremonies. Petroforms, effigies, and other rock art can easily be unintentionally destroyed. Trails should not be made to intact and important historical sites. Rare and significant locations should not be indicated by conspicuous signs. In the Arctic it has been necessary to ask visitors to avoid confusing the archaeological record by putting up inuksuit of their own. There needs to be more education to ensure that some of these important sites are not easily found, easily misused, and potentially lost forever. Snow mobiles and all terrain vehicles can also easily disturb the rock formations. It is estimated that hundreds of formations were destroyed to clear land for agriculture. There are more petroforms to be discovered that are partially buried under soil, or covered with moss and forest.
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