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Rock Art Drawings Discover More About the Ancient People Are Usually Realistic Representations Who Inhabited Southern Coastal Alaska

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Rock Art Drawings Discover More About the Ancient People Are Usually Realistic Representations Who Inhabited Southern Coastal Alaska Many petroglyphs are so old that the present inhabitants AN ANCIENT HISTORY are unable to interpret them. PRESERVING OUR HERITAGE United States Department of Agriculture Archaeologists are just beginning to The more recent rock art drawings discover more about the ancient people are usually realistic representations who inhabited southern coastal Alaska. of animals, fish, or supernatural beings. SE Even the pictures put there to tell a story SC are shrouded in mystery. Rock designs may have recorded The next few years are crucial to the preservation of rock important events such as births, deaths, potlatches, art. Destruction can be from natural or human actions. legends or contact with others such as European explorers. ROCK ART One of the ways to determine the relative Vandalism and theft threaten the survival of this important Some mark Clan territories, indicate portage locations, or Petroglyphs and Pictographs of age of rock art symbols is by association SE heritage resource. with other rock art record periods of time. While others may mark or warn of Southern Coastal Alaska sites or by comparing designs. burial locations for important people such as shamans and/ Rock art exists in a great open air museum for which Abstract designs may be older or their paraphernalia. However, no one can say absolutely we are all responsible. Be careful how you treat these than representational drawings. what the artist had in mind while creating many of these ligitimate artistic works. Walking on rock art causes images. Therefore, realize what many of these pictographs the rock and the design to crumble; touching leaves oil Some symbols are obviously and petroglyphs actually represent may in fact be very residues on the surface; chalking, rubbings and tracings SE more recent because of their personal and known only to the person who created them. apply pressure to soft rock surfaces, accelerating association with historic events. deterioration. The most destructive action, however, is When the Tlingits first saw a Russian sailing ship, grafitti. Writing or spray painting on the rocks destroys the they told in pictures of its arrival as integrity of this fragile heritage resource. if it were the return of the Raven, the mythical creator. SE The Native People who lived along southern coastal Alaska created some of the most outstanding rock art in the world. SE Long ago a Tlingit elder interpreted this Take home a memory of their distinctive art petroglyph as showing how Raven created the by taking photos. world. SE PHOTO HINTS: • Use a polarizing filter to reduce glare. e d • Side lighting is important. • Maximum shadows early in the morning or late evening bring out the design. • Artificial side lighting at night gives best results. b • Never chalk, paint or in any way alter the art to enhance your shot, as this proves destructive. c • Digital photography offers the ability to enhance SC the image. SE Rock art along the coast of Alaska is truly unique. If you SE a think you may have found a new petroglyph or pictograph, You will see examples of both Southeast and SE or you have witnessed vandalism to an archaeological site, Southcentral Alaskan rock art in this brochure. please notify the nearest Forest Service office. When we For easier identification, all the pictographs and a. Raven carrying respect and protect rock art, we help save this vital link petroglyphs have been labelled according to fire in his bill. with the past for our children’s enjoyment in the future. their area of origin. b. The box of daylight Raven stole. Contact a forest archaeologist at: c. The creation of the earth. Next to each drawing from Southeast you will d. The North wind brings the weather. Chugach National Forest Tongass National Forest find the letters “SE” and next to each from e. The Wolf Crest representing the (907) 743-9500 (907) 225-3101 Forest Service Alaska Region R10-RG-228 July 2017 Southcentral, there will be an “SC.” guardian of fresh water. www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r10/learning/history-culture USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender. ART ON THE ROCKS Humans have painted or pecked There are different styles of rock art found all over the world. Most of the rock art in southern symbols on rocks or walls of caves for coastal Alaska was made during the last 10,000 thousands of years. The rock art of years. Seeing these ancient pictures takes us Circles and spirals and back to a world lost in time, linked to the present southern coastal Alaska offers a unique “O” and “Y” designs are only by what the prehistoric artists decided to glimpse of these ancient maritime the most universal carve or paint on the living rock. of symbols peoples and their views of the world. SE and may be of great antiquity. PICTOGRAPH: a design Archaeologists painted on rock with pigments have found similar made by mixing grease or abstract symbols along the salmon eggs with red ochre or coast of Siberia. charcoal (shown in red). SE SC TREASURES PETROGLYPH: a design that is of pecked or ground into the rock surface.The designs below and the similarly styled designs throughout the brochure are examples of The best way to petroglyphs (shown in black.) record rock art is to SE take photographs. ANTIQUITY SC Group of blackfish whales Over time, weather erodes rock so it is easy enough and stylized animals. to imagine what can happen to pictures painted on the surface.Some designs may have disappeared due simply to weather conditions. Recent radiocarbon (C14) dating of associated cultural materials suggest that most pictographs painted in southeast Alaska are not much older han 400-500 years, and typically are found in caves or under rock overhangs, protected SE from wind, snow, and rain. Killer whale. Wounded sea SC mammal. SE This pictograph commemorates the death of Indian religious leaders, called shamans, may Holes in hands and in symbols several men whose have made many of the early petroglyphs during of people represented a special SC - Kodiak Island canoe was overturned SE ceremonial rites to pay respect to the spirits and bring SC ability to perceive spirits. by a whale. luck to their clans..
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