SOUND/BREATH SYMBOLS IN ROCK ART – CONTINUED:

Although I have written previously about speech or wind symbols in rock art, so far I focused on symbols that resembled the speech scrolls in the art of Mesoamerican peoples. There are a number of other examples of symbolic notations of speech or sound, conventions of portrayal used by artists elsewhere found in rock art or other art of First Nations peoples. Before going further in this exploration I need to clarify that what we are actually looking at should more technically be described as oral emanations, whether representing breath or sound, or both, is not usually possible to define.

Dog with good voice, from Red Cloud's Census, Garrick Mallery, fig.1197, p. 718.

Elk walking with his voice, from Red Cloud's census, fig. 1197, p. 718.

Five Thunders, from Red Cloud's census, Garrick Mallery, fig. 681, p.486.

Many examples from the First Nations peoples of North America are known with straight or wavy lines emanating from the mouths of anthropomorphs or zoomorphs. A number of examples from various sources can be seen on pages 718 -719 of the Dover publication of Garrick Mallery's Picture Writing of the American Indians (1889) reprinted in 1972. The bulk of Mallery's examples appear to come from painted robe or ledger book art of the Northern Plains.

Wer-panther, Halo shelter, Val Verde County, TX. Photograph Peter Faris, March 2004.

Some commonly seen examples are wavy lines emanating from the mouths of animals in rock art. Often referred to as “spirit lines” these can be seen from Mallery’s examples as representing sound or breath. One excellent example of this is the red two-legged feline painted in Halo Shelter, Vel Verde county, Texas.

“At Halo Shelter (41VV1230), a red two-legged feline (60 cm long) emits a series of long, undulating red lines from its toothed mouth. The arrangement of the speech-breath lines forms a tightly constrained, acute angle. The feline’s fur is standing on end, and its tail arches over its back. A long, thick red line emerges from its nose before turning downward to intersect the undulating lines below. The painting of the feline has been heavily abraded and incised. This form of Indigenous postpainting modification is common in the Lower Pecos, but it is especially pronounced on this figure.” (Boyd and Busby 2021) This portrayal can be compared to Mallery’s illustration of the name glyph of a man named Dog With Good Voice, from Red Cloud's Census, (fig.1197, p. 718) and to another of a man named Five Thunders, from Red Cloud's census (fig. 681, p.486). In both of these examples from Mallery the name glyph has wavy lines issuing from the mouth to illustrate sound. Other instances of wavy lines issuing from the mouth may be interpreted as breath instead of sound.

Halo shelter, Val Verde County, TX. Photograph Peter Faris, March 2004.

A painted anthropomorph from Halo Shelter is shown with a cloud of lines issuing from the head.

Reproduction of a Forrest Kirkland water color. Turpin, 1994, p.87, fig. 7.

Turpin (1994:87) included a reproduction of a Forrest Kirkland water color painting of another Pecos River Style panel with a prone figure she identifies as a shaman with wavy breath or sound lines coming from his mouth.

Crow equestrians. Horse Raiders of the Missouri Breaks, Keyser and Minick, 2018, p. 25, fig. 15.

Keyser and Minick (2018: 25) show Crow examples of equestrian figures where the horse is displaying wavy lines from the mouth, possibly panting after a run.

Lakota drawing. From Storied Stone, Linea Sundstrom, 2004, p. 184, fig. 14.

Sundstrom ( 2004:184) illustrates a Lakota drawing of a ceremony of the Elk Dreamer’s Society wherein the wavy lines of the elk in the lower right encompass the participants and impart his power to them through the power of his breath or bugling.

Pecos River Style anthropomorph. Carolyn E. Boyd and Ashley Busby, 2021, From Speech-Breath: Mapping the Multisensory Experience in Pecos River Style Pictography, Figure 6.

Boyd and Busby (2021) also show many examples of Pecos River Style pictographs where breath or sound is indicated by a cloud of dots emanating from the mouths of figures. 

Pecos River Style anthropomorph  Fate Bell Shelter, Seminole Canyon, Val Verde County, TX. Photograph Peter Faris,  March 2004.

This photo from Fate Bell Shelter in Seminole Canyon State Park, Val Verde County, Texas shows a cloud of dots above the head of the anthropomorph in the fashion that they designate a representation of sound.

So, breath or sound? I personally lean toward sound, with the other elements in the composition as clues to what sound the viewers are being reminded of but, either way, many examples of moving breath and/or auditory vibration can be found in rock art.

NOTE: Some images in this posting were retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them. For further information on these reports you should read the original reports at the sites listed below.

REFERENCES:

Boyd, Carolyn E. and Ashley Busby, 2021, Speech-Breath: Mapping the Multisensory Experience in Pecos River Style Pictography, 28 June 2021, published online by the Cambridge University Press for the Society for American Archaeology.

Keyser, James D., and David L. Minick, 2018, Horse Raiders of the Missouri Breaks, Eagle Creek Canyon Petroglyphs, Montana, Oregon Archaeological Society publication #25, Portland.

Mallery, Garrick, 1889, Picture-Writing of the American Indians, Tenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., reprinted 1972 by Dover Publications, New York.

Sundstrom, Linea, 2004, Storied Stone: Indian Rock Art of th Black Hills Country, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.

Turpin, Solveig, 1994, On a Wing and a Prayer: Flight Metaphors in Pecos River Rock Art, pp. 73-102, in Shamanism and Rock Art in North America, edited by Solveig Turpin, Rock Art Foundation Inc., San Antonio.