Pictograph

[osprey_archer]

There are pictographs on the Quetico, nine thousand years old or so. There were some marked on the map close to a campsite, so Dad and I paddled over to find them - and found nothing but a bare expanse of cliff.

But a few days later, far from anything marked on the map, I caught sight of markings on the cliff. "Dad, Dad, slow down!" I yelled.

"Do you have a fish?" he asked.

"No! I've caught pictographs!"







We landed the canoe so I could take a better photograph. A turtle - that's the big circle with the faint little head - and handprints marching up the rock beside it.

It's bad for the pictographs to be touched, and therefore it's fortunate they were too high to touch, because I wanted so much to press my hand against the handprints: as if in touching them I would reach back nine thousand years, and we could press our palms together across the gap in time.

Comments

[bunn.livejournal.com]

Woo! What a fabulous thing to drift past and notice from a canoe!

How on earth do they date them?

[bogwitch64.livejournal.com]

That is so cool. Thank you so much for sharing!

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

How amazingly cool. Where is this?

[isiscolo.livejournal.com]

So very cool!

We have them too, of course (see icon). Ours are not that old, though - 800-1500 years old.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

It's on the Quetico Lake in northwestern Ontario.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I have no idea. The informational placards at the ranger station didn't say, so I'm going to go with "magic."

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Glad you liked them!

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I often think its a shame that US schools don't emphasize Cool Archaeological Stuff in the US more. Admittedly pictographs and mounds from the mound-builders aren't quite as large and obvious as pyramids, but they have the advantage that they're here.

[isiscolo.livejournal.com]

I don't know - ever been to Mesa Verde or Chaco Canyon? The cliff dwelling ruins are pretty freakin' awesome.

Maybe it's just that living around here - we're basically butt-up against the Southern Ute reservation, and the local college gives free tuition to all members of any US (and possibly Canadian) tribe - we are frequently reminded of how many amazing archeological sites there are.

[silverusagi]

That's so cool!

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[island-of-reil.livejournal.com]

Wow.

There is really nothing like the awe of glimpsing such an intimate relic of long-ago history.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Yes. :)