THE ROCK ART OF THE NORTHWEST COAST by DORIS ElARION LUNDY B.A., Simon Fraser University, 1969 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF , THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of Archaeology ': ': , @ DORIS MARION LUNDY. 1974 *! SIMON FRASER UNIVLRSITY December 1974 All rights reserved. This thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. APPROVAL Name : Dorls Marion Lundy Degree: Master of Arts Tltle of Thesis: The Rock Art of the Northwest Coast C Roy L. Carl son Senlor Supervl tor Brian Sagar External Exam1 ner Professor Department of Geography . 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TItle of Thesls/Dlsserta tion: The Rock Art of the Northwest Coast Author: (signs ture) Doris Marlon Lundy (name) November 29, 1974 (da tc) ABSTRACT This thesis examines Indian petroglyphs and pictographs (carvings and paintings on rock surfaces) of the Northwest Coast culture area. Although over six hundred archaeological sites of this type have been recorded along the coast, they have never been studied beyond the descriptive level. The primary objectives of this thesis are to collect and organize the existing raw data and to determine their basic characteristics. These data come from publications and articles that describe or briefly mention rock art sites and from a large collection of unpublished information from several museums, including the Museum of Man in Ottawa and the British Columbia Provincial Museum in Victoria. This information is further supplemented by contributions from individuals and by original field research, The study area follows the Northwest Coast from Yakutat Bay in the Gulf of Alaska south to the Dalles of the Columbia River. This area is, for con- venience, divided into the eight traditional 1inguistic regions; Tlingi t, Haida, Tsimpsian, Bella Coola, Kwakiutl, Nootka, Coast Salish and Chinook. Sites are listed for each linguistic region by major coastal features and are identified as to type, that is, whether carved or painted or a combination. Each site 1s given a number and a note on location. Following this site list, a study of designs examines the individual designs which make up each site and 1is ts them according to whether they are zoomorphic, anthropomorphic or geometric. The distribution of these designs indicates that some are unique to the coast while others appear to have been "borrowed" from neighbouring cultural 1 areas such as the interior Plateau. Still others appear to be a part of an I 1 even greater distribution involving the Asian and North American continents. An examination of detai 1s of manufacture of paintings and carvings reveals information regarding the type and location of preferred rock surfaces as well as details of tools, pigments and binders used. There are several distinct styles of rock art to be found on the coast including three of a conventionalized nature, one that is abstract and two which appear to have originated in the Interior Plateau. One of these, the conventionalized Basic Northwest Coast Style is the most frequently encountered and may be considerably older than the others. Functional ly, these carvings and paintings were of a comnemorati ve nature, recording events such as important ceremonies, wars or natural disasters. or the presence of weal thy, or inf luentia1 persons, usual ly chiefs. They also recorded ownership of inherited or acquired rights and privileges such as economically viable territories . Finally, the problem of dating this form of primitive art is examined and those dating methods which could be applied to the Northwest Coast are briefly described. Some of these are theoretical and most have not as yet been tried on coastal rock art. Most dating information comes from ethno- graphic identification and those sites for which dates are known are relative- ly recent, being no older than two or three hundred years. However, the majority of the sites are as yet undated and there is considerable evidence to suggest that the making of rock carvings and paintings is an old coastal tradition. The results of each of the topics noted above are sumnarized and the written portion of the thesis is supplemented by 1i ;le drawings, several tables and a map. It is hoped that this thesis will serve as a framework for other studies intoI this form of primitive art of the Northwest Coast. I AC WOWLEDGEMENTS I This thesis would not have been completed without the assistance of numerous individuals and institutions. In particular I would like to thank Mr. Donald Abbott, Curator of Archaeology and his staff at the British Columbia Provi ncia1 Museum in Victoria, Mr. Bjorn Simonsen Provi ncia1 Archaeologist , Victoria, and Miss Margaret Stott of the National Museum of Man in Ottawa. To these should be added the names of Mrs. Elizabeth Hill of Saltspring Island, Mr. Nelson Oliver of Port Moody, Mr. John Corner of Vernon and all of the other researchers who made avail- able their information and their time. Special thanks are due to Desmond I Lundy who prepared the map, Elaine Whitmore who typed the manuscript and to Dr. Roy L. Carlson and Professor Philip M. Hobler of the Archaeology Department of Simon Fraser University and Professor Brian Sagar of the Geography Department all of whom gave aid and encouragement which is greatly appreciated. Much of this work was made possible by a graduate research stipend received from Simon Fraser University. Finally, I would like to acknowledge nly debt to all of the earlier rock art researchers, especially the 1ate Harlan I. Smith , Dmi nion Archaeologist upon whose work so much of this thes is depended. TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Page i Approval ii Abstract iii Ac know1edgemen t s v Table of Contents vi List of Tables vii List of figures vii i CHAPTER 1 Introduction 1 CHAPTER 2 Rock Art Sites of the Northwest Coast 5. CHAPTER 3 Designs and Distributions 70 CHAPTER 4 Techniques of Manufacture 242 CHAPTER 5 Stylistic Analysis 256 t. CHAPTER 6 Function 295 CHAPTER 7 Chronology 318 CHAPTER 8 Sumnary and Conclusions 339 Appendix A Terminol ogy and Abbreviations Used 344 References 345 LIST OF TABLES Table I Distribution of Zoomorphic Design Elements Table I1 Distribution of Anthropomorphic Design Elements Table I11 Distribution of Geometric Design Elements Table IV Distribution of Rock Art Sites by Type and Linguistic Area 244 Table V Distribution of Pigments Used in Pictographs Table VI Distribution of the Basic Conventionalized Rock Art Style 271 Table VII Distribution of the Classic Conventionalized Rock Art Style 276 Table VIII Distribution of the Columbia River Conventionalized Rock Art Style 281 Table IX Distribution of the Abstract Curvi 1inear Rock Art Style 287 Table X Distribution of the Interior Intrusive Rock Art Style 293 vll LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page Map showing main geographic features of the 8 Northwest Coast as mentioned in thesis Bear design Bison design Canine designs Deer and elk designs Horse designs Mountain goat designs Mounta in sheep designs Crab designs Flounder (Hal ibut) designs Salmon designs A shark desfgn Whale designs Eagle designs Owl designs Raven designs A sandhill crane design A frog design Insect designs Sea wolf and sea monster designs Sisiutl designs Thunderbi rd designs A snake design Figure Zoomorphic track design A turtle design Ma1 e anthropomorphic designs Female anthropomorphic designs Mythical anthropomorphic designs Anthropomorphic designs containing others Undifferentiated anthropomorphic designs Circle face designs "Arrow-1 ike" designs Two-forked 1ine designs Three-forked 1ine designs (bird tracks) "Ladder" and cross-hatch designs Copper designs Connected circle designs Divided circle designs Rayed semi-circle designs (canoes) European ship designs 223,225 Styl istic differences in anthropomorphic and copper des 1gns 258 Examples of designs in the Basic Conventionalized Style 269 Examples of designs in the Classic Conventional ized Style 274 Examples of designs in the Columbia River Conventional ized Sty1e 279 Examples of designs in the Abstract Curvilinear Style 2 8 5 Examples of designs in the Interior Intrusive Style 291 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION There are over six hundred rock art sites now known along the Northwest Coast, yet there has not been an attempt to present a comprehensive study of this type of archaeological site. Reports covering the subject have, in the past, been limited to relatively small regions within the greater culture area, or, more cornonly have described but not analyzed only one or a few sites. A 1ist of several of the more relevant publications may serve in the first place to underline the secular aspects of Northwest Coast rock art studies and may in the second place serve to provide information regarding the present status of such research. Sites of the northern Tl {wit have been we1 1 reported upon by de Laguna in several publ ications (1934, 1956, 1960). While not directly concerned with rock art de Laguna is one of the few writers who has attempted to relate the pictographs and petroglyphs in her study area with those occurring elsewhere.