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Problems in Dating and Interpreting Rock Art in British Columbia

by Darryl Kirsch

British Columbia is one of the few places in the world that contains a large amount of rock art within a relatively accessible area. Since the late nineteenth century anthropologists had noted a strong tradition of rock art within the native communities that they studied (Teit 1906). These early researchers saw the art as rooted firmly within the native artistic and religious traditions of the time (Teit 1906: 275,282). In the twentieth century more detailed studies of the regions rock art were made (Grant 1967; Meade 1971; Hill and Hill 1974; Lundy 1974; Lundy 1977; Bell 1977; Keyser 1992). Most of this research concentrated on documenting the various sites and classifying of the rock art by type and style. This paper will examine some of the methods and problems involved in the dating and interpretation of rock art. The structure of the paper will outline some research that has been done in the areas of dating and interpretation both in B.C and around the world.

Researchers have argued for various distinctions and classes to be made for the figures, which resulted in the division of rock art into two categories with three types. The categories were based upon how the images were constructed; 1) pictographs were defined as painted rock art; 2) petroglyphs were defined as carved or pecked rock art (Grant 1967:12-13), and this has remained the classical distinction for distinguishing painted from carved sites. In terms of the figures represented, there are three types that are generally accepted amongst the researchers; 1) anthropomorphs or human-like figures, 2) zoomorphs or animal like figures, and 3) geometric designs or patterns (Keyser 1992). Grant (1967) further defined the art in terms of its style as; 1) naturalistic or a depiction of a object done is a realistic manner, 2) stylized or recognizable subjects but done in a non-realistic manner, and 3) abstract or pictures that have no reference in nature. He also differentiated between the types of manufacture, but this was found to be inconvenient in terms of the rock art present in B.C. (Lundy 1974). In B.C. the distinction is made between six types of style according to the region that they are located, these include; Basic Coast conventionalized style (Lundy 1974: Figure 42), Classic coast conventionalized style (Lundy 1974:Figure 43), Colombia River conventionalized style (Lundy 1974:Figure 44), Coast abstract curvilinear style (Lundy 1974:Figure 45), Interior abstract rectilinear style (Lundy 1974:Figure46), and Interior naturalistic style (Lundy 1974:Figure 46). In this manner the rock art of B.C was organized by typology for the purposes of classification, dating, and interpretation.

For all the research conduced at the various sites in B.C. there remain two essential problems, dating and interpretation of the art. A small number of the sites relative dating is possible because of ethnographic evidence (Teit 1906; Grant 1967; Meade 1971;Hill and Hill 1974), and the depictions of historic events such as sailing ships and horses (Meade 1971; Hill and Hill 1974; Ellison 1977; Keyser 1992). However, most of the sites have yet to be established in a local cultural chronology (Lundy 1974), and there are similar problems for the interpretation of the use and meanings of these rock art sites. Most researchers attempted to link the images with territorial markings (Grant 1967; Hill and Hill 1974; Lundy 1974:295-298), shamanism (Teit 1906; Meade 1971; Hill and Hill 1974; York et al 1993; Keyser 1992), and puberty rituals (Teit 1906; Keyser 1992; York et al 1993), and as records of important events (Grant 1967; Lundy 1974). The major problem with these interpretations, though, is that they are only applicable to a small number of sites, not to mention that the nature of the activities themselves leaves the researchers with many uncertainties (Carlson 1979).

Several methods for dating can be used on rock art sites. The only useful and reliable absolute dating technique for pictographs is Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) Radio-Carbon dating. This involves the collection of a sample to test for the presence of an organic substance, which is then dated using the AMS method. The major problem with this method is that if the presence of organic binders in the paint has not been firmly established there can be doubt as to whether the organic material being dating is associated with the production of the art (Watchman 1993; Rosenfeld and Smith 1997). Although it has been suggested that the natives of B.C. used organic material such as blood, fish eggs, vegetable oil, and egg whites to act as binding agents for paint (Grant 1967:13), there has been very little analytical evidence for the presence of these materials (Watchman 1993). In Australia there has been experimental work done largely to uncover the methods for dating such binders. Blood was thought to be associated with certain male puberty rituals and an attempt was made to detect it using a monoclonal antibody test (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay test or ELISA)(Watchman 1993). The samples that tested positive where then subjected to AMS but results have not been verified so far (Watchman 1993:59-60). At one particular site presence of charcoal in ochre paints was tested, but the results obtained from a number of samples were inconsistent with each other, this was shown to be due to the presence of free charcoal associated with the environment (Watchman 1993:60). The presence of plant and animal dyes was also explored and if it can be demonstrated that these dyes are present then AMS dating is possible (Watchman 1993:60). Unidentified organic matter was tested for in Texas rock art using low temperature oxidation to remove it from the sample. The problem here is that you do not know what material you are dating and thus you will have an average date of the organic material; but this process could be useful for extracting organic material from painted rock surfaces (Watchman 1993:61). The problems in organic dating are essentially the dating of carbon not associated with the rock art, contamination by inorganic sources of carbon, and the methods used in the extraction and preparation of the sample (Rosenfeld and Smith 1997; Watchman 1997). An example of these problems is the research conducted at the Slocan Lake pictograph site (Bell 1977). A small sample of painted rock proved to be subjected to so many variables that dating was not possible. The solution to these dating problems is a standardization of the sampling, testing, and reporting techniques used with AMS dating (Watchman 1997). However, even with the use of AMS dating there is a large amount of uncertainty about what material is actually being dating and if that material is associated with the painting event.

Two techniques for dating petroglyphs, based on the presence of crusts or films that overlay the rock surface, are oxalates and silica skins (Watchman 1993). Oxalates are black surface deposits that contain dust and salt, and are thought to reflect changes in the environment. Because the exact process for the formation of the oxalate is not known and possible natural sources of oxalates such as lichen exist, this technique requires further research before it can be accurately used for dating purposes (Watchman 1993:62). Silica skins, formed on rock by water seepage, contain organic matter trapped within the skins, which enables AMS dating. The problem with this method is that the extraction of the sample is very difficult due to the thinness of the skin and possible migration of pigments through the skin itself (Watchman 1993:62). Samples taken using these techniques have the same difficulties dating samples as the organic material in pictographs.

Besides absolute dating techniques there are relative stylistic dating techniques that can be used to place the rock art in a local chronology. These methods are based upon the idea that style is specific to certain times, places, and groups of people and can therefore be used as a chronological marker (Rosenfeld and Smith 1997). Two things must be done to ensure the accuracy of a stylistic date, the style must be associated with material culture, which is documented historically, or it must be found within a dated archaeological context (Rosenfeld and Smith 1997:406-407). Because of evidence that style can differ within a context and result from other contexts it must be shown that a single trait has value between situational factors and social contexts (Rosenfeld and Smith 1997:408). The solution for researchers is to correlate all stylistic dating with the AMS method. A good example of this is the work done at the Protection Island site in B.C., where a petroglyph was found buried beneath undisturbed archaeological strata and was deemed to be authentic by its style (McMurdo 1977). Organic samples, taken from the two strata directly above the petroglyph, were dated using AMS and yielded two dates, 275+50 yrs bp (1675 AD) and 345+40 yrs bp (1605 AD) respectively (McMurdo 1977:217). Stylistic analysis in conjunction with AMS dating does offer some avenues for dating rock art but the problem remains that there are a limited number of sites that it can be used on.

The interpretation of rock art sites is even more difficult due to the differing cultural factors involved in the production of the art itself. As noted before, some sites can be seen as territorial markers and shamanistic practices, but these interpretations are largely based on ethnographic research. On the Northwest Coast there is ethnographic evidence of spiritual beliefs involving animism and the practice of shamanism. Two types of practices are generally associated with material objects, shamanistic ritual and the belief in guardian spirits (Carlson 1979). A guardian spirit is a being that will aid an individual with tasks such as hunting, and provide protection for safe travel. This can be related to rock art by means of the vision quest, whereby the individual would draw or trace over the design of a particular spirit in order to access its power(Carlson 1979:195; York et al 1993). The shamanistic aspect of rock art comes into play when one is sick or in need of healing and the spirits are communicated with during a trance at a site of power, usually containing rock art with ribs on a anthropomorphic figure (Carlson 1979:195). Crests are also signs of inherited power and were placed in prominent cliff faces to proclaim the inherited privileges of local chiefs (Carlson 1979:198). The problem is that art is less specific than writing in terms of the information it conveys and that it is also produced within a specific belief system (Carlson 1979:187). Therefore, generalized meanings seem to apply better than specifics for all sites not known by ethnography.

In South Africa there has been a major effort to find independent means to classify a site as shamanistic independent of ethnographic evidence. This work dealing with the neuropsycological principles of entopic phenomenon (Lewis-Williams and Dowson 1988). The content of hallucination experiences during the practice of shamanism will be effected by cultural expectations but there is evidence that some forms of altered states produce effects that are due solely to the physiology involved (Lewis-Williams and Dowson 1988:202). The effects of entopic forms are consistent and follow a pattern of perception and various stages of combination with iconic or cultural forms (Lewis-Williams and Dowson 1988:203-204). This pattern has been previously documented with the Tukano people of South America (Lewis-Williams and Dowson 1988:204), and was tested against known shamanistic rock art sites of the San people of South Africa and the Coso sites in California and thus its efficacy was proved for use in other areas (Lewis-Williams and Dowson 1988:211). Some researchers have critiqued this claim by asking if entopics are universal in scope and if this method can also be used to look at sites that contain no entopic forms (Bahn 1988: 217; Bednarik 1988: 218). One researcher proposed that iconic images of some rock art might be inspired by the environment of the site itself (Vastokas 1988: 230). Furthermore, it has been noted that hallucination are not psychologically normal events and that it must therefore be present, for the purposes of production, at a low proportion of the sites (Bednarik 1990). When looking at these images it must be remembered that these are not only artifacts but signs as well, and because a sign is an event that takes "A" to be the letter "a" it is not accessible to empirical analysis (Davis 1988). It seems that there is a cultural selection process at work in terms of the choice of subject matter and that these images are indeed part of a ritual complex (Lewis-Williams and Dowson 1988:233; 1990). Although still new as an analytical tool, it appears that entopics are promising for the classification of some sites as shamanistic.

One recent example of ethnographic interpretation was based on a series of interviews with an elderly native woman in regards to what she remembers about the art of the Stein valley (York et al 1993). She was taken to and shown pictures of a number of rock art sites in the valley were interpreted to have shamanistic and ritual significance. The authors used the technique of entopic analysis in conjunction with the ethnographic evidence (York et al:237-239,68-220). They concluded that among other things, the rock art of the Stein valley was primarily used for ritualistic purposes, and acted as a language for members of the community (York et al 1993:224-227). It has been noted before that ethnographic evidence has value by complimenting the empirical evidence in a meaningful way (Lewis-Williams 1987). As such evidence is scarce this work provides more data for the researcher and serves as a valuable source.

In conclusion it is still tenuous at best to say that researchers can accurately date and interpret rock art with the aid of methods developed in the last twenty years. As some of the evidence has shown, the number of methods that are available have many serious problems yet to be overcome if they are to be used in a meaningful analytical way. Developing standard procedures for gathering, testing and analyzing AMS samples (Watchman 1997) is definitely a step in the right direction. It is doubtful however that the large majority of these techniques can be used in conjunction with the rock art sites in B.C. due to the use of ochre paints, which cannot be dated (Watchman 1993), and the question surrounding the use of organic binders. Research into the presence of these binders using some of the methods, such as low temperature oxidation, could perhaps shed light on the presence of organic binders. Perhaps the best avenue for further research into the question of organic binders would be a thorough search of the ethnographic data in conjunction with a sampling survey of some known rock art sites. However, this might be problematic due to the destructive nature of the sampling techniques (Rosenfeld and Smith 1997). It would thus be preferable, if sampling is to be undertaken, that a representative sample of various sites around the province be done. This has the added benefit of lowering the cost of a regional survey and also obtains a sample representative for the whole region. As it has been in the past, so it will probably continue that the major method of dating rock art in B.C will have to be through typology and style.

In terms of interpretation, the picture is somewhat bleaker. The use of ethnographic data and historical depiction has resulted in the approximate and accurate interpretation of some rock art sites. (Teit 1906; Grant 1967; Meade 1971;Hill and Hill 1974; Lundy 1974; Ellison 1977; Keyser 1992; York et al 1993). However, some of the ethnographic data that has recently been published should be closely scrutinized in terms of how it is constructed. Not being an expert on ethnographic data collection, one nonetheless received the distinct impression that the interviewer was asking leading questions (York et al 1993:232). However, it should be noted that this is recent data and some of the subjects' recollections might have changed over time. The idea of using entopic analysis for determining a shamanistic origin of a painting is compelling, but further research of its applicability to the B.C. region would need to be demonstrated before it could be fully utilized. The idea that belief systems are not totally accessible to the empirical researcher is very important when interpreting rock art [Carlson 1979]. Moreover, all the difficulties inherit in this type of study are no different from those of other cultures studied throughout the world. It would be a shame not to continue research into these areas because they are not totally accessible to current archaeological methods.

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