Download Pictographs and Petroglyphs

Pictographs and Petroglyphs
A RT I C LE B Y J O A N M . VA S TO K A S
R E V I S E D B Y S E R GE LE M AÎ TR E AN D M É L A N I E FAFA R D
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/en/article/pictographs-and-petroglyphs/
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Rock art is generally divided in two categories: carving sites (petroglyphs)
and paintings sites (pictographs). Pictographs are paintings that were made by
applying red ochre or, less commonl y, black, white or yellow dye.
Pictographs and Petroglyphs
Rock art is generally divided in two categories: carving sites (petroglyphs) and paintings sites
(pictographs). Pictographs are paintings that were made by applying red ochre or, less commonly, black,
white or yellow dye. Although the majority of the images were traced with the finger, some could be
executed with brushes made of animal or vegetal fibres. Petroglyphs are carvings that are incised,
abraded or ground by means of stone tools upon cliff walls, boulders and flat bedrock surfaces.
Rock art sites have been discovered throughout all Canada. In fact, pictographs and petroglyphs may
constitute Canada's oldest and most widespread artistic tradition. It is part of a worldwide genre of
prehistoric art, which includes the cave paintings of Spain and France as well as the rock art of
Scandinavia, Finland, northeast Asia and Siberia. No foolproof method for the precise dating of rock art
has been discovered, other than speculative association with stratified, relatively datable archaeological
remains. While the tradition of rock art was no doubt brought into Canada by its earliest occupants
during the last ICE AGE, it is most unlikely that examples of great antiquity will ever be found.
Rock art in much of Canada is linked with the search for helping spirits and with shamanism - a
widespread religious tradition in which the SHAMAN's major tasks are healing and prophesy, along
with the vision quest. Several broad regions of rock art "style areas" have been distinguished, including
the Maritimes, the Canadian Shield, the Prairies, British Columbia and the Arctic.
The Maritimes
The Maritime provinces count many rock art sites that are usually attributed to the Mi'kmaq
(MICMAC). Essentially composed of petroglyphs, this art generally consists of fine incisions made on
slate rocks along the shores of lakes and rivers. Some of them are found in KEJIMKUJIK NATIONAL
PARK, at Medway River and MacGowan Lake, and in southwest Nova Scotia. Images include animals
eg, (caribou, moose, birds, snakes), anthropomorphic figures, hunting and fishing scenes, footprints and
fingerprints, and ornamental designs that are also found on these people's clothes. In addition to this
traditional iconography, there are also images of European origin, such as firearms, churches and
Christian designs, as well as beautiful representation of sailboats.
The Canadian Shield
The Canadian SHIELD, which extends from Rivière St-Maurice in Québec to northern Saskatchewan,
counts more than 500 pictograph sites, while petroglyph sites are confined to the south. The
Peterborough petroglyph site in southern Ontario (see PETROGLYPHS PROVINCIAL PARK) is the
most outstanding in all of Canada with its several hundred images of humans, animals (eg, birds,
snakes, turtles and boats), all contained on a single rock outcrop of crystalline limestone. Here, there are
no pictorial boundaries such as frames or groundlines, and it seems that there is no deliberate grouping
of images. Aesthetic order is in accord with nature, and images are often integrated with the numerous
hollows, crevices and seams of the rock itself.
It has been showed that in painting sites, the arrangement of symbols corresponds to the ordering of the
spiritual world in different levels: the THUNDERBIRDS above, humans and other animals in the
middle, and the underworld beings (the Horned Snake or MISHIPESHU, the big lynx) at the inferior
level. Moreover, the use of crevices, cracks or mineral seams (mostly quartz) shows an organization of
space and a composition that stage the different mythological elements. For instance, the battle between
Thunderbird and the Horned Snake is often depicted as the bird killing the reptile with lightning, which
is materialized in the composition by a seam of quartz. Other iconographic themes also appear
regularly: a figure with horns or rabbit ears accompanied by a wolf probably represents NANABOZO
and his brother Wolf; and a snake or Mishipeshu under a canoe shows the danger of those fantastic
beings, which tip canoes and drown their passengers.
Pictograph sites in the Canadian Shield are less extensive in scale and contain fewer image clusters
compared to carving sites. Although sites at Bon Echo Provincial Park in southern Ontario and at Lake
Superior Provincial Park near Wawa (Ont) are well known, the majority of pictograph discoveries have
been made in Quetico Park and at Lake of the Woods in northwestern Ontario. Hundreds of pictograph
sites and a few petroglyph sites have been discovered in this part of the Canadian Shield, where they
may have been in production from a very early period. At the site of Mud Portage in the Lake of the
Woods area, for example, petroglyphs have been discovered beneath the layers of an Archaic period
archaeological deposit, which have been dated by their discoverers to before 5000 years ago, making
them the oldest in Canada. Radiocarbon dating at the Nisula site along Lac Cassette, Québec, indicated
that the paintings were made about 2000 years ago. The geographic distribution of rock art sites and the
iconographic themes that are represented seem to indicate that carvings and paintings on the rocks of
the Canadian Shield were produced by the ancestors of Algonquian populations (eg, OJIBWA, CREE,
INNU).
The Prairies
Despite the lack of rock surfaces on the Prairies, petroglyphs and pictographs are an important
prehistoric art form of southern Saskatchewan (seeSASKATCHEWAN ROCK ART) and Alberta. The
Herschel Site in Saskatchewan contains petroglyphs that could pertain to the oldest rock art tradition in
North America, whereas the black paintings of the Swift Current Creek Site are unique in the country.
Many pictographs have been found on isolated boulders and rocky outcrops along the foothills near
Calgary. At WRITING-ON-STONE Provincial Park in southern Alberta, there is an extensive series of
small-scale petroglyphs incised on the sandstone bluffs of the Milk River. They depict spiritual icons
such as Thunderbird or shaman figures. Some narratives have also been illustrated: this is the case of a
complex, four-metre long battle scene showing a camp circle, mounted warriors, tipis, guns, and shot.
The petroglyphs sometimes show evidence of contact with Europeans, since horses, men bearing guns,
and wheeled carts are found.
British Columbia
Some of the most intriguing images of Canadian rock art are painted on cliffs in interior British
Columbia. Those near Keremeos are probably abstractions of the spirits the shaman encountered in his
visions. The BC coast has many petroglyph sites, though the few pictograph sites are probably more
recent. Stylistically, West Coast rock art is unique in Canada, often showing form and subject-matter
linkages with the later historic art of the 19th century and with the very similar petroglyphs found on
the lower Amur River in northeast Asia. Outstanding sites are located primarily on Vancouver Island Nanaimo Petroglyph Park and Sproat Lake - but sites have been discovered as far north as Prince
Rupert and along the Nass and Skeena River system.
The Arctic
The few rock art sites discovered in the Canadian Arctic are all located in the Kangirsujuaq area on
Qikirtaaluk Island, Nunavik. They contain petroglyphs that only represent full faces, with human,
animal or hybrid features. The carvings were probably made by the DORSET people, which occupied
the Arctic between 500 BC and 1500 AD. The faces that are found in rock art sites resemble masks that
were sculpted by them. Among the sites recorded to this day, the most important is no doubt Qajartalik,
which is located on the northeast side of the island, near the community of Kangirsujuaq. The site
contains more than 170 faces that were incised in an outcrop of soapstone (steatite) about 1500 years
ago. Most of the faces are symmetrical and some have feline features and horns. The carvings probably
had a spiritual meaning for the Dorset. Unfortunately, the Qajartalik petroglyphs have been vandalized
several times.
Research History
Pictographs and petroglyphs in Canada were mentioned by explorers, travellers, and settlers as early as
the late 18th and early 19th centuries. But significant records and studies appeared only after 1850,
initially by American scholars. The first to illustrate and interpret pictographs from the point of view of
the native people themselves was Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, a US Indian agent stationed at Sault Ste
Marie, Mich, in the early 19th century. He described the AGAWA PICTOGRAPHS at Bay near Wawa,
Ont, and wrote on the practice and meaning of pictography among Algonquian speakers of North
America in a 6-volume publication dated 1851-57.
The work of Colonel Garrick Mallery for the Smithsonian Institute, however, was primarily responsible
for stimulating scholarly and popular interest in rock art. His still definitive survey, Picture-Writing of
the American Indians (1893), includes descriptions and drawings of several Canadian sites in Nova
Scotia, Ontario, Saskatchewan and BC. In 1887 and 1888, Mallery visited and first recorded some of
the extensive Kejimkujik petroglyphs in Nova Scotia.
Discoveries and accounts of rock art by Canadian authors appeared sporadically in the 1890s and more
abundantly in the early decades of the 20th century. In BC, James A. TEIT reported on pictographs of
interior BC (1896-1930). In Ontario, David BOYLE, one of Canada's pioneer archaeologists, did most
of the early rock art recording. He was notably the first, in 1896, to describe and illustrate the
pictographs at Lake Mazinaw.
In these early years, too, Harlan I. Smith, archaeologist with the National Museum, wrote many of the
earliest accounts of petroglyph sites along the BC coast (1906-36), following upon initial discoveries on
Vancouver Island by the American anthropologist Franz BOAS (1891). While rock art research abated
considerably across Canada between 1930 and the early 1950s, BC remained a focus of activity.
Between 1936 and 1942, for example, Francis J. Barrow surveyed and reported (1942) on south coastal
sites and the Norwegian archaeologist and rock art authority Gutorm Gjessing published 2 major studies
of BC rock art (1952, 1958) after a cross-Canada survey undertaken in 1946-47.
In 1949 BC novelist and author Edward Meade began recording coastal petroglyph sites from Alaska to
as far south as Puget Sound, the results of which appeared in 1971. Starting in 1960, the same territory
was thoroughly covered by Beth and Ray Hill, whose lavishly illustrated book (1974) did much to
attract public interest in BC rock art. In the province's interior, apiarist John Corner continued Teit's
research. This work resulted in a popular illustrated survey (1968), which remains a key publication for
the region.
The 1960s were particularly rich years for rock art investigation in Canada, culminating with the
foundation of the Canadian Rock Art Research Association (CRARA) in 1969. This national association
of specialists devoted to research, public education and preservation of pictograph and petroglyph sites
in Canada was instrumental in fostering public awareness and increased scholarly interest across the
country through its biannual conferences and newsletters (1970- ). Selwyn Dewdney (1909-79) was
elected first senior associate in recognition of his long-standing contribution to rock art recording in the
Canadian Shield and to public education. A commercial artist and art therapist, Dewdney had begun
recording pictographs and petroglyphs for the ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM in 1957. Aiming for a
continuance of Boyle's pioneering work, Kenneth E. Kidd (1906-1994), then curator of ethnology, had
sought funding for the systematic documentation of Ontario's rock art sites. With initial support of the
Quetico Foundation, Dewdney was selected for the task of locating and recording new as well as
forgotten sites in the rugged Shield. From 1957 to his death in 1979, Dewdney discovered and traced
hundreds of sites throughout Ontario and westward to Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. The book
co-authored by Dewdney and Kidd (1962, rev 1967) has stimulated enormous public interest in rock art
of the Canadian Shield.
By the late 1960s, the scientific study of pictographs and petroglyphs had become widespread across
Canada. More accurate systems of photographic as well as other means of recording have been applied
and experiments have been undertaken, chiefly by scientists of the Canadian Conservation Institute, for
the dating and preservation of unprotected rock art sites. Since the 1970s, a new generation of
researchers and their students have continued to discover new sites and re-investigate known ones,
using new methods of recording and new theories of interpretation. These include Thor Conway from
the Ontario Ministry of Culture; James D. Keyser, who recently retired from the American Forest
Service in Portland, Oregon; Doris Lundy, at the Archaeological Branch of the BC Ministry of Tourism,
Sport and the Arts; Jack Steinbring, who retired from the University of Winnipeg and is now affiliated
with the Ripon College and the University of Wisconsin-Oshksoh; Gilles Tassé, retired from the
Université du Québec in Montréal (UQAM) ; Ron and Joan Vastokas, both professor emeritus at Trent
University; Ian Wainwright, who retired from the Canadian Conservation Institute in 2004; Michael A.
Klassen, heritage consultant in BC; Brian Molyneaux, Director of the University of South Dakota
Archaeology Laboratory; Grace Rajnovich who worked many years for the Ontario Ministry of Culture;
Paul Taçon, professor and research leader at the Griffith University School of Arts in Australia; and
Daniel Arsenault, professor at UQAM.
Research has tended recently to focus on the interpretation of both the function and meaning of rock art
in the context of native culture and on the relationship of pictographs and petroglyphs to other forms of
native visual expression. For about the last decade, research has shifted towards the study of the
surrounding landscape and the integration of rock art sites in a broader geographical context (eg, the
importance of the area within the lakes or rivers network, the proximity of rapids or falls).
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/en/article/pictographs-and-petroglyphs/
Activity:
Create a timeline of the research on petroglyphs and pictographs as described in the above
passage. For each date, provide the name of the researcher or organization and the subject of the
research (specific). Don’t forget to give a specific title to your timeline.
Petroglyphs Provincial Park
• Largest known concentration of Aboriginal rock carvings
(petroglyphs) in Canada, depicting turtles, snakes, birds, humans
and more; this sacred site is known as “The Teaching Rocks”
• Visit the Learning Place Interpretive Centre to discover the traditions
of the Ojibway people through the teachings of the medicine
wheel
• Visit bright blue/green McGinnis Lake – one of only a handful of
meromictic (layers of water that don’t intermix) lakes in Canada
• Great opportunities for wildlife viewing including Ontario’s only
lizard, the Five-lined Skink.
Meromictic lakes
http://www.conservationhalton.ca/crawford-lake-meromictic-lake
A 1971 study revealed Crawford Lake to be meromictic – because the lake’s
basin is deeper than its surface area, the lowest levels of water are very rarely, if
ever, disturbed by wind or temperature changes. Without an annual turnover of
water, there is little oxygen present in its depths and minimal bacterial breakdown,
which preserves the layers of sediment that have built up over time. This build up
provides an accurate record of the human and natural history of the lake and its
surroundings. Studies of this sediment revealed the agricultural history of the
Iroquoian people, and the presence of a pre-contact village.
There are twelve known meromictic lakes in Canada. Some such as:
McGinnis Lake, close to Peterborough, Ontario.
Pink Lake in Gatineau Park, Quebec.
McKay Lake in Ottawa, Ontario.
Little Round Lake, South of Ottawa, Ontario.
Crawford Lake, South of Toronto, Ontario.
Van Nostrand Lake, North of Toronto, Ontario.
Five-lined Skink
(Plestiodon fasciatus)
Other names: common five-lined skink, Eumeces fasciatus, Lacerta fasciata
The five-lined skink is Ontario’s only native species of lizard.
Characteristics
The five-lined skink is a smooth, slender lizard that can grow to 21 centimetres in length,
but most individuals are much smaller. Their coloration varies with age. Juveniles and
young adult females are glossy black with five cream stripes down the back and a bright
blue or blue-grey tail. Males and older females gradually fade to a more uniform bronze,
although often the stripes are still visible. Males in breeding condition have a bright
orange chin and jaw.
Similar Species
No other lizards are native to Ontario. Salamanders are similar in body shape but do not
have scales or claws.
Habitat
Five-lined skinks in the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence population are typically found in forest
openings, specifically large rock outcrops. Along the Lake Erie shoreline, where the
Carolinian population lives, skinks inhabit open forests, small meadows, beaches and
stabilized sand dunes. Five-lined skinks hibernate in groups under rocks or tree stumps
and in rotting wood.
Biology
Five-lined skinks reach sexual maturity at just under two years of age. They breed in May
and early June. Females lay two to 15 eggs in the early summer in a nest excavated under
cover or within a rotting log. Several females may nest together and will protect their nest
from predators. Females bask in the sun and return to the nest to use their bodies to
warm their eggs, which hatch in late summer. The hatchlings are approximately three
centimetres long.
Five-lined skinks are not territorial, and individuals do not have strict home ranges. These
lizards eat a wide variety of invertebrates, such as insects, spiders and worms, and track
prey with their keen sense of smell. On cool sunny mornings, five-lined skinks can be seen
basking in the sun, but most often they are found hiding under cover. They typically hunt
in leaf litter and woody debris. They will also climb trees to hunt, bask or escape
predators.
If a predator catches a skink by the tail, it will break off and begin to thrash about. The
moving tail distracts the predator while the lizard escapes. Although a new tail will grow
over time, the skink will have lost much of the fat reserves on which it relies to survive the
winter.
Threats & Trends
The Carolinian population of the five-lined skink has drastically declined due to extensive
habitat loss in southwestern Ontario, where most of the natural landscape has been
converted to agricultural and urban uses. Ongoing habitat loss and fragmentation also
threaten the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence population, as roads and cottages continue to
proliferate. The removal of important microhabitats, such as shoreline debris, wood and
loose rocks, is also a serious threat to this species, especially the Carolinian population.
Other threats to the five-lined skink include road mortality, illegal collection for the pet
trade and predation, especially in areas where raccoons and other predators are abundant.
A study at Point Pelee National Park documented a road mortality level of almost one
skink per day!
Current Status & Protection
The Carolinian population of the five-lined skink is currently listed as Endangered under
the Ontario Endangered Species Act, 2007 and Endangered under the federal Species at
Risk Act. The Great Lakes–St. Lawrence population of the five-lined skink is currently listed
as Special Concern under the Ontario Endangered Species Act, 2007 and Special Concern
under the federal Species at Risk Act. The species has also been designated as a Specially
Protected Reptileunder the Ontario Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act. These acts offer
protection to individuals and their habitat. The habitat of this species is further protected
in Ontario by the Provincial Policy Statement under the Planning Act. The International
Union for Conservation of Nature lists the global status of the five-lined skink as Least
Concern. The species’ status was confirmed in January 2010.
http://www.ontarionature.org/protect/species/reptiles_and_amphibians/five_lined_skink.php
Questions:
1.
Describe the cultural and religious importance of Petroglyphs Provincial Park.
2.
What is a meromictic lake? Where can they be found in Canada?
3.
Why is the five-lined skink interesting? (describe 3 reasons)