2016 C.R.A.P. AWARD GOES TO UTAH SENATORS ORRIN HATCH AND MIKE LEE, AND CONGRESSMAN JASON CHAFFETZ:

It is once again time for RockArtBlog to award the coveted annual C.R.A.P. (Certifiable Rock Art Prevarication) award for what is one of the year's biggest rock art related prevarications. This year's 2016 award goes to Utah senators Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee for their legislative attempt to block the creation of Bear's Ears National Monument in southeastern Utah, to protect uniquely beautiful lands as well as amazing cultural resources including a large quantity of rock art. A late addition to this prestigious pool is Utah congressman Jason Chaffitz. 

Rock art in proposed Bear's

Ears National Monument.

http://img.deseretnews.com

According to Thomas Burr of the Salt Lake Tribune (published on September 15, 2016) "Utah Sens. Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee introduced the legislation Thursday to exempt the state from a law allowing the president to designate new national monuments, but critics dismissed the move as a desperate 'Hail Mary' in trying to halt protection of the Bear's Ears region in southeastern Utah."

"The measure would prohibit the president's use of the 1906 Antiquities Act within Utah, extending a loophole that now covers Wyoming, as part of an effort to keep President Barack Obama or his successors from using the unilateral power to create national monuments."

Rock art in proposed Bear's

Ears National Monument.

Photo: Shanna Lewis, httpwww.cpr.org

Senator Lee stated "New Yorkers would not appreciate it if Utahns came in and told them what they could and couldn't build in Manhattan, and Utahns don't like it when out-of-state special-interest groups tell us how to use our land either. Over 50 years ago, the state of Wyoming was granted protections from Antiquities Act abuse in their state, and all Utahns are asking is for that same protection to be extended to their state. (The 1950s legislation creating an expanded Grand Teton National Park was passed with the significant concession to opponents that the Antiquities Act would not again be used in Wyoming without the consent of Congress.)" (Burr 2016)

Rock art in proposed Bear's

Ears National Monument.

Photo: Tim Peterson, http://d1jrw5jterzxwu.cloudfront.net

Hatch explained his opposition to the monument with the statement "today, we are again faced with the threat of a unilateral designation of another 1.8 million-acre monument in southeast Utah," Hatch said. "Such a designation would far exceed the purpose of the Antiquities Act, which was written specifically to protect special cultural sites and objects limited to the smallest compatible area necessary." (Burr 2016)

Rock art in proposed Bear's

Ears National Monument.

natgeocreative.com, Public Domain

A representative for the pro-designation effort explained that "Senator Lee confuses private land in New York for the public lands in Utah that belong to all Americans," said Jen Ujifusa, legislative director of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. "The Utah delegation had three years to develop a meaningful and reasonable conservation solution with the Public Lands Initiative, but squandered that opportunity by listening only to industry and parochial interests. This last-ditch Hail Mary shows they know the PLI has failed." (Burr 2016)

In a related internet report on Newsmax.com, on December 29, 2016, Karl Nelson, quoted Utah congressman Jason Chaffetz "The midnight move is a slap in the face to the people of Utah." (Nelson 2016)

"Obama said in a statement that the monument will 'protect some of our country's most important cultural treasures, including abundant rock art, archaeological sites, and lands considered sacred by Native American tribes.'" (Nelson 2016) Please note the wording in President Obama's statement above. This might be the first time that the President of the United States has said the words "rock art" in a press conference, a historic occasion!

It seems to me that this opposition is somehow missing the point. The National Monument designation is intended to protect this wonderful place from mining and petroleum production, uncontrolled four-wheel driving and dirt-biking, and pot-hunting and vandalism of cultural remains and rock art. How is protection a bad thing? Hatch, Lee, and Chaffitz, for their support and advocacy of vandalism and destruction, in this case, are awarded the RockArtBlog 2016 C.R.A.P. award. Congratulations gentlemen.

NOTE: The photographs illustrating this story were retrieved from the internet through a search for "Bear's Ears rock art public domain". If any of them were used mistakenly without permission I apologize.

PS: As of December 29, 2017, President Obama has signed the order to make Bear's Ears a National Monument. President-elect Trump and the Republicans in congress are vowing to overturn it after the change of office in January. I may have to enlarge the recipient pool of the C.R.A.P. award to include the whole Republican party.

REFERENCES:

Burr, Thomas,

2016     Hatch,Lee seeking Utah exemption from monument-creating Antiquities Act, WWW.SLTRIB.COM, Sept. 16, 2016.

Nelson, Karl
2016     Chaffetz Slams Obama 'Midnight Land Grab', Newsmax.com.

MERRY

 CHRISTMAS

2016

From

RockArtBlog

     Santa  Dasher   Dancer   Prancer  Vixen   Comet   Cupid   Donner   Blitzen   Rudolph

Who forgot the

sleigh?

Photograph courtesy of Robert Dundas

NEW ROCK ART DISCOVERIES IN JORDAN:

Petroglyphs found in the

Black Desert of Jordan.

Photo: Peter Akkermans.

A November 21, 2016, article on LiveScience, written by Owen Jarus, covers the recording of "thousands of inscriptions and petroglyphs dating back around 2,000 years - in the Jebel Qurma region of Jordan's Black Desert." (Jarus 2016) The article details discoveries by a team led by Peter Akkermans, of  The Netherlands Leiden University, who leads a study project at Jebel Qurma. "Nowadays, the Jebel Qurma area, and the Black Desert in general, is a highly inhospitable area, very arid and difficult to cross," said Akkermans.

Petroglyphs found in the

Black Desert of Jordan.

Photo: Peter Akkermans

Petroglyphs found in the

Black Desert of Jordan.

Photo: Peter Akkermans

"The inscriptions are written in Safaitic, and alphabetic script used by people who lived in parts of Syria, Jordan, and Arabia in ancient times." (Jaris 2016) The team's discoveries show that the Jebel Qurma area had trees, wildlife, and a large human population around 2,000 years ago.

Petroglyphs found in the

Black Desert of Jordan.

Photo: Peter Akkermans

Petroglyphs found in the

Black Desert of Jordan.

Photo: Peter Akkermans

"The petroglyphs, or rock art, show images of lions, gazelles, horses, and large birds that may be ostriches. The inscriptions found near these petroglyphs tend to be very short. "Most of the texts are simply names, like so-and-so, the son of so-and-so," Akkermans said.  A few inscriptions suggest that the population of Jebel Qurma had conflicts with the people of the ancient city of Petra, the Nabataeans. (Jarus 2016)

Petroglyphs found in the

Black Desert of Jordan.

Photo: Peter Akkermans

"Other inscriptions tell of  the challenges and setbacks encountered by the people who lived at Jebel Qurma. "May there be strength against hunger," one inscription reads, while another was written by a man who said he was 'distraught over his beloved.'" (Jarus 2016)

The changes in habitability indicated by the petroglyphs and inscriptions should be seen in light of our present challenges caused by climate change. If such major environmental changes can happen under natural conditions in a relatively short time, under essentially natural conditions, what kinds of changes can we expect in the relatively near future under conditions of increasing global warming caused by human activities? Perhaps we should take this as a serious warning.

Note: to see the full article visit LiveScience at http://wwwllivescience.com/56944-ancient-inscriptions-found-in-black-desert.html.

REFERENCE:

Jarus, Owen,

2016    Ancient Inscriptions Show Life Once Flourished in Jordan's 'Black Desert', LiveScience, November 21, 2016, http://wwwllivescience.com/56944-ancient-inscriptions-found-in-black-desert.html.

METEOROLOGICAL RECORDS IN ROCK ART - CHINESE CAVE INSCRIPTIONS:

Chinese drought inscription,

Davu Cave, Qinling mountains,

China. From Ghose, LiveScience,

August 20, 2015.

A subject in rock art that has long fascinated me is evidence of verifiable events recorded on the rocks. As everyone's daily life is directly impacted by meteorology, that is one area that we should expect to find evidence of in rock inscriptions or pictures. An example of this can be found in inscriptions in Davu Cave, in southeastern China. Located in the Qinling Mountains, this cave contains written inscriptions of droughts occurring in the region and their impact upon the population.

Writing for LiveScience on August 20, 2015, Tia Ghose cited an August 13 article from the journal Scientific Reports that outlined a series of droughts in that area and the inscriptions that record them. The droughts were confirmed by analysis of chemical elements in stalagmites from the cave. Study co-author Sebastian Breitenbach, a paleoclimatologist at the University of Cambridge, England explained that the team analyzed the proportions of carbon, uranium, oxygen, and other isotopes, in stalagmites  to detect climate changes over time that signaled droughts." The amounts of radioactive uranium and carbon, which decay at a known rate, tied specific parts of the stalagmite to particular historic times." (Ghose 2015)  And, "because the water seeping into the cave was likely groundwater, the levels of oxygen and carbon isotopes could provide information about surface conditions outside the cave. The team found that oxygen and carbon levels rose when rainfall was low, suggesting that those markers could reliably reveal when drought conditions occurred." (Ghose 2015)

Comparing this scientific record then with cave inscriptions revealed a very accurate correlation.

"One inscription, which is dated to July 27, 1596, says directly that there is a big drought, and that the writers had come to the cave to get water and pray for rain. Another, dating to 1891m reads: 'On May 24th, 17th year of the Emperor Guangxu period, Qing Dynasty, the local mayor, Huaizong Shu, led more than 200 people into the cave to get water. A fortune-teller named Zhenrong Ran prayed for rain during the ceremony.'" (Ghose 2015)

"Another inscription mentions a Dragon Lake that may have been in the cave." (Ghose 2015)

All in all, records of seven droughts over the past 500 years corresponded quite well with the recorded droughts in the cave formations. The team even used their data from the chemical record and the inscriptions to construct a model to predict future periods of drought in that region. That model predicts that "in the next decade, China is in for more severe and more frequent droughts, though the model can't predict exactly where or when the droughts will occur." (Ghose 2015)

Rock art, not only as a record of the past, but as a predictor of the future. How about that?

REFERENCES:

http://www.livescience.com/51929-cave-graffiti-reveals-drought.html

MYTHOLOGY IN ROCK ART:

We have long been convinced that mythology could offer insights into the meaning of rock art. I am sure that we all know of examples where we are convinced that this works, that the meaning of a rock art panel can be inferred by knowledge of the mythology of the people who created it. Now an article in the December 2016 issue of Scientific American makes the fascinating claim that mythology can be used to decipher meaning in cave art produced during the Paleolithic period.

Drawing of the Polyphemus

myth panel in Les Trois-Freres. 

Public domain.

Julien d'Huy, in The Evolution of Myths, explains his process of phylogenetic analysis using statistics to generate "phylogenetic trees (that) reveal that species of myths evolve slowly and parallel patterns of mass human migration out of Africa and around the globe." (d'Huy 2016:64)

D'Huy explained that "my phylogenetic studies make use of the extra rigor of statistical and computer modeling techniques from biology to elucidate how and why myths and folktales evolve." (d'Huy 2016:64)

One of the myth families that he has applied this technique to is the "Cosmic Hunt", where "a man or an animal pursues or kills one or more animals and the creatures are changed into constellations." (d'Huy 2016:64) This story, in a number of variations, was common to the ancient Greeks in the story of Callisto who becomes the constellation Ursa Major, the great bear, and to the Iroquois, Chukchi, and Finno-Ugric tribes of Siberia. According to d'Huy "although the animals and the constellations may differ, the basic structure of the story does not." (d'Huy 2016:64)

D'Huy has traced the Cosmic Hunt myth back through history and around the world. He found it to be "nearly absent in Indonesia and New Guinea an very rare in Australia, but present on both sides of the Bering Strait, which geologic and archaeological evidence indicates was above water between 28,000 and 13,000 B.C. The most credible working hypothesis is that Eurasian ancestors of the first Americans brought the family of myths with them." (d'Huy 2016:65)

Another myth family that d'Huy has traced back to early origins is known as the Polyphemus myth after the one-eyed giant in the Odyssey who trapped Ulysses' crew in a cave and devoured some of them. In the same way as Polyphemus kept his herd of sheep in a cave, in variations of this myth animals are kept concealed by a trickster or other being, and a hero bring them to the surface of earth to sustain the people. The Algonquin Blackfoot people acquired buffalo in this way. "A composite phylogenetic tree of Polyphemus myths indicates that the stories followed two major migratory patterns: The first, in Paleolithic times spread the myth in Europe and North America. The second, in Neolithic times, paralleled the proliferation of livestock farming." (d'Huy 2016:68)

Drawing of the hero in the

Polyphemus myth panel in

Les Trois-Freres. Public domain.

"Phylogenetic reconstructions of both the Polyphemus and Cosmic Hunt stories build on decades of research by scholars who based their work primarily on oral and written versions of folktales and legends. The current models also incorporate empirical observations of mythological motifs in prehistoric rock art. Similarities in certain rock art motifs and the reconstructed stories open a new window on the mental universe of the first humans who migrated across the Bering Strait to the New World between 30,000 and 15,000 years ago. 

In the myth of Polyphemus, as its original public most likely heard it, a hunter faces one or many monsters that possess a herd of wild animals. He enters the place where the monster keeps the animals and finds his way out blocked by a large obstacle. The monster tries to kill him. The hero manages to escape by clinging to the underbelly of one of the animals.

This protomyth - revealed by three separate phylogenetic databases, many statistical methods and independent ethnological data - reflects the belief, widely held by ancient cultures, in the existence of a master of animals who keeps them in a cave and the need for an intermediary to free them." (d'Huy 2016:69)

Drawing of the hero of the

Polyphemus myth panel in

Les Trois-Freres. Public domain.

D'Huy believes that this theme to can be applied to the Paleolithic world view on the origin of game. "At the Cave of the Trois-Freres (or "three brothers")

in the French Pyrenees, frequented during the upper Paleolithic, a panel shows a small creature with the head of a bison and the body of a human, which seems to be holding a short bow. Lost in the middle of a herd of bison, another animal, similar to a bison, turns its head toward the human hybrid, and the two exchange gazes." (d'Huy 2016:69)

This, he sees as an illustration of the herd of game animals being brought out of concealment (hidden in the cave perhaps) by a hero, to the people.

Now I have been relatively critical of statistical analysis in the past, especially when applied to rock art, but even without relying on statistics this explanation makes a great deal of sense, and when combined with the phylogenetic analysis of the mythology, I have to concede that I believe there is something here that is possibly of great importance to rock art studies. I look forward in the future to more contributions by Julien d'Huy. 

NOTE: Read the whole article in the December 2016 Scientific American magazine.

REFERENCE: 

Julien d'Huy,

2016  The Evolution of Myths, Scientific American, December 2016, Volume 315, Number 6, pages 62 - 69.

VANDALIZED BY MOTHER NATURE - CHINESE ROCK ART DESTROYED BY FLOODING:

 

Flood damage upon chinese rock

art, Helan Mountain, Ningxia

Autonomous Region, China.

http://www.archaeology.org/news?page=2

A recent story on www.archaeolgy.org reported considerable damage to rock art on cliffs of Helan Mountain in the Ningxia Autonomous Region of northwest China by heavy rains and flooding. "China.org.cn reports that rare flooding in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of northwest China has damaged some of the thousands of prehistoric carvings on the cliffs of Helan Mountain. The images are thought to have been created by nomads who lived in the area between 3,000 and 10,000 years ago. Some of the images were damaged by mud and silt, and about a dozen images that had been carved on individual rocks were carried away by the flood waters. Other pictures were lost when layers of mountain rock peeled off or cracked in the heavy rains. Hu Zhiping, deputy director of the Helan Mountain Cliff Painting Administration, said that the extent of the damage is still being assessed." (www.archaeology.org 2016:2)

Helan Mountain was decorated with an estimated 20,000 examples of rock art scattered over several hundred kilometers. These had been created by nomadic tribes once living in the area and are believed to be between 3,000 and 10,000 years in age.  "An employee at the scenic area which has about 6,000 cliff paintings, said about a dozen paintings on individual rocks were unaccounted for." (www.archaeology.org 2016:2)

This is another reminder of the ephemeral nature of much rock art. This statement may seem counterintuitive when we are discussing an art form that depends upon solid rock for its medium, but you can visit museums all over the world that are full of ancient works of art that are in better condition than the contents of many rock art sites that are younger in age than those works of art in the museums. The morale of this story is that is still critical that we fully record all rock art so that digital records may be protected for the future. 

REFERENCE:

http://www.archaeology.org/news?page=2

http://www.china.org.cn/china/2016-08/26/content_39169375.htm

A NAVAJO ROCK ART SITE IN THE CENTRAL COLORADO MOUNTAINS?

Almont rock art site, CO.

Photo, Jared Allen, 2016.

I recently received some fascinating pictures and information from Jared Allen. Jared shared some photographs of a rock art site near Almont, in Gunnison County, Colorado. A couple of the photos show deeply incised grooves or the sort usually defined as tool sharpening grooves, although some of the grooves appear to be arranged purposefully to create a tree-like image. Much more interesting, however, are a couple of Jared's photographs that illustrate what appear to be Navajo Yei (Holy People) figures. Almont is a considerable distance from the current region of Navajo habitation, so what gives here?

Almont rock art site, CO.

Photo, Jared Allen, 2016.

Almont, Colorado, is approximately 9 miles north of the town of Gunnison, and 60 miles NW of Saguache. Some references place the early Navajo and the boundaries of Dinetah, the Navajo homeland, far enough north and east of their present territory that it includes the San Luis Valley in south/central Colorado. "Dinétah encompasses a large area of northwestern New Mexico, southwestern Colorado, southeastern Utah, and northeastern Arizona. The boundaries are inexact, and are generally marked by mountain peks which correspond to the four cardinal directions." (Wikipedia) Indeed, Mount Blanca, one of the Navajo four holy mountains is located in the Sangre de Cristo mountain range on the east side of the San Luis Valley.

Almont rock art site, CO.
Recurved bow held by
figure on the right.

Photo, Jared Allen, 2016.

The right figure in this group appears to be holding a recurved bow considered a hallmark of athapaskan peoples and, thus, a possible Navajo identifier (see below).

Yei pictographs showing recurved
bow, Delgadito Canyon. Picture
from www.nm.blm.gov/.

"In Navajo tradition, the Holy People, or Yeis, are sometimes shown holding "recurved" bows. This technological innovation is thought by some to have been introduced by the ancestors of today's Navajo and Apache. The distinctive double curve is sometimes shown alone as a symbol for Naayee' Neizghani, or Monster Slayer, one of the Hero Twins." (www.nm.blm.gov/)

If these images are indeed Navajo in origin they are probably dated from back early in the athapaskan entrance into this area, as with the passage of time the Navajo gravitated farther south and west. "The Navajo occupation of the region has been divided into two major phases - the Dinetah phase (ca. 1500-1630, which includes the entrance and settling of the area by the Navajo, and the Gobernador phase (ca. 1630-1800), during which time the Navajo culture became fully defined." (Wikipedia)

So, if these Navajo figures are authentic, they are probably fairly early, or evidence of a later wanderer.

REFERENCES:

http://www.nm.blm.gov/features/dinetah/navajo_history_2.html

Wikipedia

DINOSAUR TRACKS ON THE LINTEL BUILT INTO AN ANCESTRAL PUEBLO DWELLING:

I have written elsewhere about the fact that when I was an undergraduate the field of Art History also included studying architecture and design/decoration. I do not see so much of that these days but, as for me, both architecture and design/decoration are legitimate branches of Art History and thus are eligible for inclusion here in RockArtBlog. The following combines both in an example of an Ancestral Puebloan structure in Utah. 

Lintel over doorway, Ancestral Pueblo.

Photograph: Joshua Smith.

Humans are fascinated by fossils. This was as true for our early ancestors as it is for us. On October 6th, 2016, I had the pleasure of meeting and talking with Joshua Smith, a contract paleontologist in Grand Junction, Colorado. We met at his favorite coffee shop and I had an excellent breakfast burrito and a cup of good coffee while we talked about Native American fossil knowledge.  Smith showed me photographs of one of his discoveries, an instance of incorporation of fossil dinosaur footprints into the architecture of an ancestral puebloan building in Utah.

View of the underside of the lintel,

Ancestral Pueblo. Photograph:

Joshua Smith.

Smith first noticed them in 2003. While the building had long been known to archaeologists, apparently no one had noticed the tracks on the underside of the lintel over the doorway until Smith came along (an good example of we see what we expect to see, and an excellent reason for cross-disciplinary studies in rock art).

Pointing out one track on

the lintel, Ancestral Pueblo.

Photograph: Joshua Smith.

Some of the structure is dated from Basketmaker II, AD 50 - 500 (Wikipedia), but most of the construction appears to date from the Pueblo III period, AD 1150 - 1350 (Wikipedia). While the structure is constructed of cream-colored sandstone from nearby, the pinkish-colored sandstone of the lintel stood out as coming from a different source, although also local. In examining it Smith found the two dinosaur tracks on the underside where they were exposed to view. This may be important as the stone could have just as well been placed with the tracks on the upper side hidden from view. This suggests that they were purposely left so they could be viewed, and that they had some significance to the builders and occupants of the structure (Smith 2016).

Pointing out one track on

the lintel, Ancestral Pueblo.

Photograph: Joshua Smith.

Dinosaur tracks are classified into separate ichnospecies from dinosaur remains because they often cannot be pinned down to the exact species that made them. These tracks fall into the category known as Grallator. "Grallator tracks are characteristically three-toed (tridactyl) and range from 5 to 15 centimeters (or 2 to 6 inches) long. While it is usually impossible to match these prints with the exact dinosaur species that left them, it is sometimes possible to narrow down potential trackmakers by comparing the proportions in individual Grallator ichnospecies with known dinosaurs of the same formation." (Wikipedia)

Outlined track on the lintel, Ancestral

Pueblo. Photograph: Joshua Smith.

Smith identified the tracks as belonging to a small theropod dinosaur, similar to a coelophysis, based upon his knowledge of the age of the rock formation and the species extant in that time. (Smith 2016)  Previously, I have written about Native American knowledge of fossil tracksites and cited a Navajo example identifying them as "giant lizard footprints". (Faris 2011) Whether the tracks had a spiritual value to the builder, or were just included for decorative purposes, this important discovery not only adds another example of Native American fossil knowledge, it provides evidence of another facet of their beliefs and material culture in which this knowledge could be expressed. Thank you Josh. 

REFERENCES:

Faris, Peter

2011 Dinosaur Footprints and the Giant Lizard Petroglyphs at Cub Creek, Dinosaur National Monument, Feb. 9, 2011, 

http://rockartblog.blogspot.com.

Smith, Joshua, personal communication, 2016.

Wikipedia

CRESCENT JUNCTION SITE, GRAND COUNTY, UTAH:

Petroglyph panel, Crescent Junction

site, Grand County, Utah.

Photo: Peter Faris, Oct. 8, 2016.

Driving in to the Crescent Junction (Utah) rock art site one goes right past a Department Of Energy radioactive tailings disposal site. This reminded me of a RockArtBlog posting on June 10, 2009, titled Protecting Rock Art, in which I discussed poison ivy as a protection for rock art panels, and speculated upon the efficacy of using rock art sites for radioactive or toxic waste disposal to protect the rock art (Faris 2009). This is close in concept, but the disposal is near the rock art, not around it, and, I think, coincidental. In other words they were not looking to protect rock art, they were looking for empty land to dump their radioactive tailings at.

Petroglyph panel, Crescent Junction

site, Grand County, Utah.

Photo: Peter Faris, Oct. 8, 2016.

Petroglyph panel, Crescent Junction

site, Grand County, Utah.

Photo: Peter Faris, Oct. 8, 2016.

It is a good site though, worth visiting. I was there on a field trip from the 2016 Annual Meeting of the Colorado Archaeological Society (CAS) which was held in Grand Junction over the weekend of October 6-8. Members of the Grand Junction chapter of CAS are to be congratulated for an excellent meeting and programs.

The Crescent Junction site is on a number of scattered boulders at the base of the Bookcliffs formation on the North edge of the Grand Valley.

Fremont figure, Crescent Junction

site, Grand County, Utah.

Photo: Peter Faris, Oct. 8, 2016.

Some of the rock art is archaic imagery with anthropomorphs, quadrupeds, footprints, and symbols intermixed. Many of the human figures seem to be Fremont in origin which give us a timeframe of AD 1 to 1300 (Wikipedia).

Bat? Crescent Junction

site, Grand County, Utah.

Photo: Peter Faris, Oct. 8, 2016.

One of the interesting figures seen here has been identified as a bat by folks in the area. It may be, maybe not, but it is interesting. Also some very complicated panels which could be designated as palimpsests because of intertwined and overwritten figures and symbols.

All in all it is a great example of the type of marginal Fremont site found throughout western Colorado and eastern Utah.

REFERENCE:

Faris, Peter

2009   Protecting Rock Art, June 20, 2009, http://rockartblog.blogspot.com/search/label/poison%20ivy

Wikipedia

WRITING-ON-STONE PROVINCIAL PARK, ALBERTA, CANADA:

Cliffs and hoodoos at Writing-On-Stone

Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada.

Photo. Peter Faris, June 25, 2016.

On June 25, 2016, I had the opportunity to visit a world-class rock art site, Writing-On-Stone Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada. Sitting in the valley of the Milk River, this magical area of cliffs, hoodoos, and petroglyphs, was sacred to the Blackfeet people and still evokes an aura of mystery in the mind of a visitor. There is much more rock art here than a person could expect to see in a number of days so I did not resent the fact that the guided tour skipped a number of sites that we could see as we drove by. I still filled the time available with visiting, photographing, and appreciating some remarkable rock art.

Rock art at Writing-On-Stone

Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada.

Photo. Peter Faris, June 25, 2016.

Although I would not trade this opportunity to visit Writing-On-Stone for the world I must admit to a couple of disappointments with it. First, the sky was an even overcast gray diffusing the daylight and making photography very difficult. Although I do know that I took pictures of rock art I cannot now find the rock art in some of the pictures that I did take. We all know how the lighting affects rock art photography, and this day was one of the more extreme I have had to put up with. I saw the petroglyphs while I was there, but they do not show up in some of the photographs.

Mitigated cliff at Writing-On-Stone

Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada.

Photo. Peter Faris, June 25, 2016.

The second disappointment regards an attempt made to mitigate vandalism to rock art panels. Over the years since the discovery of the site by Anglos people have been adding their names, initials, dates, etc., to the rock art panels. This is the all-too-common vandalism the we see on most known rock art panels. This mitigation was done by removing the inscription, with a hand wielded dental pick in instances where prehistoric rock art might be affected, to grinding the inscriptions off the rock face with a steel-bristled brush, sometimes held in a rotating electric drill. This was done because there was concern that the vandalism would negatively impact on their application to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so they had it removed. Hired workers and volunteer crews between July 26 and August 10, 2012, removed graffiti from 47 panels, and  between September 13 and September 21, 2012, they removed graffiti from a further 47 panels, 94 panels in total were affected.

Mitigated cliff at Writing-On-Stone

Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada.

Photo. Peter Faris, June 25, 2016.

Once the graffiti had been chipped or ground off the work area was camouflaged by painting colorants back onto the surface to mimic the patina of the rock face. Colorants used were natural pigments collected in the area, yellow ochre from a rock shelter in the area, red ochre from nodules found on the ground beneath the cliff faces having weathered out of the rock, and for grayish tones charcoal from local vegetation. These colorants were finely ground and mixed with water from the milk river and then brushed onto the surfaces to emulate the untouched rock surfaces nearby.

These techniques were of limited success as by the time of my visit the camouflaging colorants were obviously washed off by weather and the graffiti removal scars stood out as large light-colored, smooth areas very noticeably different from the natural rock surface. Personally, I dislike this technique greatly, I would rather see good, honest initials and names "defacing" the rock face than these large smooth unnatural-looking scars.

Damaged prehistoric petroglyphs

at Writing-On-Stone Provincial

Park, Alberta, Canada. Photo.

Peter Faris, June 25, 2016.

Even more disturbing to me is the fact that in many cases prehistoric petroglyphs were damaged by the removal of overlying graffiti. I have a number of photographs that illustrate this damage (although as I said above they are very difficult to see because of the lighting). Even sillier to me is the fact that staff had gone to some effort to compile a list of the inscriptions that had historical significance, i.e. early explorers and settlers, that they stipulated should be left alone while other graffiti was to be removed whenever possible. Had they just waited, the passing of time would have given the later inscriptions historical significance as well. Remember, all that history is, is what actually happened, and they had actually happened. A prehistoric petroglyph carved over an earlier prehistoric petroglyph was vandalism when it happened.

Be that as it may, this is now also a part of the history of Writing-On-Stone, a lamentable part to be sure, but a part. No matter what else it is, Writing-On-Stone is still a world class rock art site and should not be missed if the opportunity to visit it comes up. And now it can also be considered an educational site that displays a number of what I consider to be mistaken assumptions about what an authentic rock art site is, and should be. Please world, if anyone out there is listening, please do not replicate these techniques elsewhere.