PETROGLYPHS - INDIRECT VS. DIRECT PERCUSSION REVISITED - REVISITED AGAIN:

On may 14, 2016, I posted a column titled PETROGLYPHS - INDIRECT VS. DIRECT PERCUSSION REVISITED. In this I reported on experimental results published in 1999 by Jim Keyser and Greer Rabiega that addressed the question of indirect vs. direct percussion in the manufacture of petroglyphs. Their experiments proved that the use of a stone chisel between the rock face and the hammer stone allowed finer lines and better control in the finished petroglyph. My original denial of the concept (January 17, 2010, "Petroglyphs - Direct Vs. Indirect Percussion?")  had been based upon commonly seen illustrations that show the artist holding a hammer stone in one hand and a chisel made of a flaked stone point on a wooden or bone shaft in the other, chipping away at the rock face to make a petroglyph. Keyser had rightly recognized that I was not considering the use of a smaller hard rock as a chisel stone between the hammer stone and the rock face, and apprised me of the published results of their experiments.

Figure 1, chisel stone found at

Horsethief Lake State Park,

Washington, by James Keyser, 2007.

A short time later Keyser again contacted me and provided me with a copy of a paper he had published in 2007, about finding just such a chisel stone at Horsethief Lake State Park, Washington. While not directly associated with any particular petroglyph there, he reported that it was in the vicinity of a grouping of petroglyphs. "The chisel stone, a small quartzite river pebble measuring 3.5 x 4 x 1.3 centimeters in maximum length, width, and thickness (Fig. 1), was found by me in the eroded foot trail used to access the main areas of rock art in the park during a visit there in 2007. Although not directly associated with a petroglyph, the tool was within a few meters of two different rock art loci at 45KL58, both of which contain a few petroglyphs, and not far distant from a third that also has petroglyphs." (Keyser 2007)

Figure 2, experimental chisel stone.

Keyser and Rabiega, 1999.

The previously reported experiments (above) conducted by Keyser and his co-investigator had prepared him to recognize something that most of us would probably have overlooked. "As soon as I picked it up I recognized it immediately as a chisel stone exactly like several (Fig. 2) that I and a colleague had produced in an experiment a decade earlier (Keyser and Rubiega 1999: 130-132)." (Keyser 2007)

While experimental archaeology such as the project Keyser reported in 1999 cannot prove that something was definitely done in a particular way, it can prove that something might have been done that way. This finding of the actual artifact, however, seems to seal the deal on it. Indirect percussion was sometimes used in the production of petroglyphs, especially when fine details were the goal.

Keyser closed his paper with the statement "As such, it should put to rest the argument as to whether at least some petroglyphs were, in fact, manufactured by this technique." It does for me Jim, and thanks again.

REFERENCE:

James D. Keyser,

2007, DIRECT EVIDENCE FOR THE USE OF INDIRECT PERCUSSION IN PETROGLYPH MANUFACTURE, p.25-27, INORA International Newsletter On Rock Art, www.bradshawfoundation.com,vol. 49.

Keyser, James D. and Greer Rabiega,

1999,  Petroglyph Manufacture by Indirect Percussion: The Potential Occurrence of Tools and Debitage in Datable Context, Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, Vol.21, No. 1, pages 124 - 136.

CHIPPED ROCK EDGES AT A WASHINGTON STATE VISION QUEST SITE:

Vision quest site and petroglyphs, Horsethief Lake State
Park, Washington. Photo: Peter Faris, 2000. Notice the
chipped edge of the rock face with the pictographs.

In the summer of 2000 I had the good luck and great privilege to be guided around Horsethief Lake State Park, in Washington State, by Dr. James Keyser, one of the great names in North American Rock Art studies. There is considerable Yakima polychrome painted style rock art in this area and it is also the site of numerous petroglyphs including the marvelous petroglyph known as Tsagaglalal, “She who watches”, which originally probably also included some paint.

Vision quest site and petroglyphs, Horsethief Lake State

Park, Washington. Photo: Peter Faris, 2000. Notice

the chipped edge of the rock face with the petroglyphs.

Along with considerable rock art, the vicinity of Tsagaglalal also contains some small rock shelters which seem to have been used as vision quest sites. The rock floors of these shelters show a considerable degree of butt-polish apparently acquired by frequent sliding in and out of place accompanied by long periods of sitting. The rock here is volcanic, apparently basalt, and naturally fractures in angular blocks. The rock shelters are located in low cliff and are the result of large blocks cracking loose and falling away leaving small, roughly rectangular openings. Many of the nearly right angled edges of the rock around these shelters have been chipped away in small flakes. Keyser suggested that the rock might have been chipped away for medicinal purposes because of the spiritual nature of the site (so near to Tsagaglalal). Additionally, the supposed vision quest shelters also usually contain petroglyphs as well.

Tsagaglalal (She Who Watches), Horsethief Lake

State Park, Washington. Photo: Peter Faris, 2000.

Native American beliefs in animism attributed a spirit presence to many of the physical features around them. According to Wikipedia animism “is a philosophical, religious or spiritual idea that souls or spirits exist not only in humans and animals but also in plants, rocks, natural phenomena such as thunder and lightning, geographic features such as mountains or rivers, or other entities of the natural environment.” The presence of Tsagaglalal would have added a strong spiritual attraction to the environment as well. I can picture that a young Native American undergoing a successful vision quest in this environment might well have wanted to take a chip of the rock with him, to include its power in his medicine bundle.

A pebble wedged into a crack on the cliff by a petroglyph.

Vision quest site and petroglyphs, Horsethief Lake State

Park, Washington. Photo: Peter Faris, 2000.

Another interesting phenomenon found in these rock shelters is the placement of small pebbles of stone into cracks in the rock face at these shelters, perhaps as some sort of offering. I think of this as the “Kilroy was here” motivation, the human urge to make some sort of visible change, to leave some record of their existence. Alternatively, the pebbles may have originally been jammed into the crack to hold some sort of organic offering in place that has since been lost to the elements.

Perhaps any study of a rock art location should include a much more detailed study of surrounding rock surfaces for such modifications as further clues toward the later interpretation of the purpose and significance of the rock art.

Note: I am deeply grateful to my friend Jim Keyser for taking the time and effort to guide me to these locations.