(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Ancient America: The Fowler Collection of Washington artifacts (museum exhibit) [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-22 Included in the Cashmere Museum in Cashmere, Washington is an exhibit of the W. L. Fowler Collection of American Indian artifacts. Artifacts such as these can provide important clues about prehistory—that period of time for which there are no written accounts. Unfortunately, when such artifacts are removed from the sites where they had been for hundreds and perhaps thousands of years, they tell us almost nothing about life in the past. In terms of geography, Cashmere is located in the Plateau Culture Area and the items in this exhibit seem to be Plateau Indian artifacts. This is an area which has been inhabited by American Indians for tens of thousands of years. When artifacts such as those in this display are removed from their original context they cannot be accurately dated. In other words, we do not know the age of any of these items. The articles in the display are not labelled and the descriptions below are my own interpretations of what they are. Shown above is a petroglyph. There are two basic kinds of rock art in the Plateau: pictographs in which the images are painted on rock and petroglyphs in which the images are pecked or carved into the rock. In his book Indian Rock Art of the Columbia Plateau James Keyser writes: “Petroglyphs are rock engravings, made by a variety of techniques. In the Pacific Northwest, pecking was the most common method: the rock surface was repeatedly struck with a sharp piece of harder stone to produce a shallow pit that was then gradually enlarged to form the design.” James Keyser also reports: “Columbia Plateau petroglyphs are most often made on basalt, a hard, dense volcanic stone.” In his chapter on rock art in the Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 12: Plateau, Keo Boreson reports: “Petroglyphs are frequently found at places near rivers or lakes where people congregated, often where fishing was exceptionally good.” Keo Boreson also reports: “These carved and painted images give an intimate glimpse into the lives of people that other archaeological remains do not, a visual memory that goes a step beyond the everyday necessities of food and shelter.” In their chapter in Discovering North American Rock Art, Lawrence L. Loendorf, Christopher Chippindale, and David S. Whitley write: “So this is the strength of the pictures: they are direct statements by ancient people of how they saw and knew their worlds, statements that are fixed in place and—when we are fortunate—enduring in time so that we may see them.” Rock art is, of course, symbolic and the meaning of the art is difficult to interpret. It is common for modern people to interpret ancient rock art with the “gaze and guess” method which reflects modern cultural concepts rather than those of the artists. Understanding the meaning of ancient rock art requires an understanding of the religion, language, and society in which the artists lived. In his book The Serpent and the Sacred Fire: Fertility Images in Southwest Rock Art, Dennis Slifer writes: “There is consensus among scholars that rock art is not ‘writing’ and cannot be ‘read’ as such. It is language only in the sense that symbols are used to represent things in a nonliteral, symbolic manner.” Shown above is a flaked projectile point. Shown above is a shallow stone bowl. It may have been used in preparing paint. Shown above is a stone club. This may have been a weapon of war. The ground stone tool shown above may have been a chisel. Shown above are two ground stone tools. The two taller stone tools are probably pestles used in food preparation and the smaller tool is a hand-held maul. More Ancient America For thousands of years prior to the European invasion, people lived in the Americas. The stories of these ancient peoples is told through American Indian oral traditions and scientific archaeology. More about these ancient cultures: Ancient America: Avonlea, the early bow hunters Ancient America: The Old Copper People Ancient America: Aboriginal Mining Ancient America: Columbia River Pictographs (Photo Diary) Ancient America: Columbia River Rock Art (Photo Diary) Ancient America: A very short overview of Clovis Ancient America: A very brief overview of the Hopewell moundbuilders Ancient America: Montana Prior to 6000 BCE [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/22/2200602/-Ancient-America-The-Fowler-Collection-of-Washington-artifacts-museum-exhibit?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/