Iowa County, Wisconsin

1999 IRAC Field Trip

David Lowe took a group of us to five Iowa County rock art sites. Lowe is credited with discovering around seventy rock art sites in the area, more than tripling the number of previously known sites. Rainbow Cave had a few red and black paintings. Lowe believes these are from around AD 1000. The Walnut Hollow Hawk Site had a few petroglyphs including the first Thunderbird figure I've seen. I have a feeling I'll see more of this motif before the week is out. Hole in the Wall I & II are near the mouth of a watered canyon in which the property owner has restricted logging. The first site is in a literal hole in the wall with petroglyphs on the wall. The most interesting group features the figure of a deer above several linear elements that look like grass. The lighting conditions made photography next to impossible. The second site is just down canyon and has a few petroglyphs on a boulder. The Frame #2 Site has several groups of linear petroglyphs in a red sandstone alcove. The Leaning Rock Site is a huge outcrop of bedrock on a gently sloping hillside. The geological features of this site were as interesting as the black and red paintings in the alcove at the base of the outcrop.

1999 International Rock Art Congress, Ripon College

see: http://www.tcinternet.net/users/cbailey/irac99.html

Fortunately I delivered my paper, "Horseshoe Canyon's Great Gallery and Archaic Performance," on the first day (Landscape, Place and Rock Art session) so I could enjoy the rest of the Congress without worrying about the presentation. I was a little nervous, however, because my session did not run concurrently with any other sessions. Most of the several hundred researchers who had arrived were in attendance for my delivery. It was in the Storzer Gymnasium and the acoustics and sound system were less than perfect. Nonetheless, I made it through my paper.

The first evening was highlighted by one of the best presentations of the week. Jean Clottes shared his recent work in Chauvet Cave at Vallon-Pont-d'Arc in the Ardèche region of France. We were treated to images that were taken less than a month ago. Clottes' presentation was by far the most comfortably delivered of the entire Congress. He shared his important research in a casual yet highly informative way. Later he recommended that I begin to deliver my papers from notes instead of reading word for word. Depending on the material I present in the future I might give this a try. I am trained to have my deliveries timed to the minute and typed out verbatim.

The following evening, Tuesday, I had "Dinner with a Pro", a special event organized by Alanah Woody (University of Southhampton and Nevada State Museum). Several students of rock art were joined by an equal number of professionals in the field. To my left were Frank Bock and Paul Bahn whose humorous remarks kept me in stitches. The conversations were lively and very encouraging for us students. We heard from professors, professional archaeologists and a Ranger in the National Park Service about the importance of rock art education. This is a very difficult subject at times. The most difficult topic was site visitation as a means of educating the public. The debate centered around two primary approaches: controlled visitation as a means of education, and the restriction of access to promote conservation of the sites. There is no easy answer and I saw the benefits of the arguments posited in favor of each approach.

The Tuesday evening keynote address was by Robert Salzer: "Wisconsin Rock Art". He gave an amazing account of the ongoing excavation and interpretation of the Gottshall Rock Shelter and its paintings. His relationship with the Ho-Chunk Nation and his use of ethnographic material stand as fine examples of how interpretation can be well informed through careful research and thorough understanding of a specific Native American culture. Like Jean Clottes, his delivery was comfortable and thoroughly informative. He is also one heck of a nice guy.

Wednesday I had to run back and forth between the Computer Technology and Great Plains sessions. I had to miss all of the Central Siberian session. That evening David Whitley delivered the keynote address, "Bighorn Sheep and North American Rock Art: Stormy Weather in Rock Art Interpretation." Stormy weather indeed. Whitley reaffirmed his position as one of North America's most vigorous proponents of the Lewis-Williams / Dowson shamanistic model of rock art interpretation.

Thursday was an all-South American day for me. There were numerous excellent presentations. Guilherme Albagli was the only Brazilian presenter and he up-dated us on his work in the Sertão da Bahia. The best part of this all-day session was the lively discussion and debate that followed. The presenters and audience stayed for over an hour exchanging ideas and disagreements—all in a very professional manner. During the lunch break I sat in on a flint-knapping demonstration. This was extremely informative as this technology is basically beyond my comprehension. I still don't know how these folks control the shape of the rock.

That evening Carol Diaz-Granados delivered the lecture, "How Do You Measure Time? Ancient Skywatchers and the Rock Art Evidence." Afterwards Larry Loendorf invited me to a local restaurant for some informal chat with Whitley and Clottes. I learned about a world rock art exhibit they are organizing and volunteered to put them in touch with Richard Woodward at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Our current Splendors of Ancient Egypt exhibition was the major selling point for their interest in bringing the show to Virginia.

Friday there were more South American papers (South American Rock Art: Settlement and Landscape) as well as a session on Theory. The booksellers and other vendors had to close up shop by noon, so I had to divide my time between the papers and some shopping (I finally met Bob Edberg of Piedra Pintada Books). The closing awards ceremony and banquet was that evening. Paul Bahn delivered his delayed address to the Congress, and ruffled quite a few feathers. He took exception to who he called the "shamaniacs" in a humorous yet stinging rebuttal of the presentation Whitley delivered Wednesday evening. Bahn then turned his critical sights on the International Federation of Rock Art Organizations (IFRAO). His comments were so strong that several people walked out in protest.

Robert Mark and Evelyn Billo were honored with the ARARA Conservation and Preservation Award for their work at Hueco Tanks State Historical Park, east of El Paso, Texas (see the 13 September 1999 Texas Parks and Wildlife news report on the Hueco Tanks Project for details). Their company, Rupestrian CyberServices in Flagstaff, Arizona, boasts the motto, "Computer science in the service of rock art research, protection, and education." Based upon their work in Texas alone, that motto is rather modest.

Please visit Rupestrian CyberServices on the web. Bob and Evelyn are not only first class researchers but wonderfully great people as well. Bob really came through in a pinch for me when I needed a photo for my M.A. Thesis. Getting to finally meet him and Evelyn face to face in Ripon was a sincere pleasure.

Jeffers Petroglyphs

I departed Ripon and headed west. I stopped by the Jeffers Petroglyph site in southwest Minnesota. I had not originally planned on visiting this site but conversations with Kevin Callahan convinced me it would worth my time. I arrived a little too early in the afternoon to catch the best light but I was nonetheless able to pick out many of the images. I was most intrigued by the numerous atlatl motifs. I can only wonder what this site and the surrounding tall-grass prairie looked like during its use.

I departed the site around 4 PM and made it to Spearfish, South Dakota at 11:30 PM. While passing through the Badlands I barely missed a dangerous thunderstorm. The reports indicated baseball-sized hail, lightning and wind gusts to 80 miles an hour. Fortunately, I caught nothing more than a few drops of rain.

North and South Cave Hills

Today was a bust (these things happen and I'm getting used to it). I hoped to visit several petroglyph sites in the North and South Cave Hills. Jim Keyser and Larry Loendorf drew up some great directions in Ripon, but the access roads were too muddy for my passenger car. I did a bit of walking around but soon realized that the terrain would prevent me from having much success. The wind was gusting around 30 miles an hour, the temperature was barely above 45 degrees and the light rain made my little stroll rather miserable. The cold I caught in Ripon turned into the flu and I was in pretty bad shape by the time I rolled into Thermopolis, Wyoming, later that evening.

I had contacts to meet in Utah and more rock art to see so I couldn't afford to lay around. The weather was much the same in this region of Wyoming. Several creeks were reaching flood stage. I got the feeling that natural disasters were following me.

Legend Rock Petroglyphs (48Ho4)

The weather actually created excellent conditions for photographing the petroglyphs. I took advantage of a two hour break in the rain to shoot some of the most impressive petroglyphs I've ever seen. This site was a substitute for the Dinwoody sites I had originally planned to visit. I have to thank Larry Loendorf for filling me in on the Native American concerns with the Dinwoody sites. I realized that circumventing these concerns was not worth a few dozen slides. Information is available through Hot Springs State Historic Site headquarters.

The elevation changes while crossing the Owl Creek Mountains heading south out of Thermopolis made my sinuses go crazy. Fortunately the air was much dryer on the other side and I felt a little better.

This "garden" of white sandstone has close to a dozen or more panels of petroglyphs. The major panels near the parking area are protected with chain-link fences to discourage further vandalism. None of the images resemble the Legend Rock or Dinwoody figures but there are several interesting anthropomorphs. One panel, somewhat secluded from the main sites, features an anthropomorph in a shield. There are two motifs framing the figure that resemble feathered darts or spears. The petroglyph is also painted with faded green and red pigment.

I swung through Casper to finally meet John and Mavis Greer (actually I had met Mavis in Ripon). We had a wonderful conversation on the "ins and outs" of doing ethnographic research in South America. It was wonderful to carry on a conversation face to face instead of via email.

I made it to Ft. Collins, Colorado, at 11:00 PM. The Ripon Flu is still with me but the weather here is helping a little.