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Portable
Rock
Paintings |
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33GU218
(Day's Knob) |
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An
anthropomorphic painting (height 18 mm -
0.7") apparently in iron oxide on the edge of a sandstone
rock. For a while, markings like these at this site were not
presented as paintings because of the insistence
of some archaeologists that they must be the result of natural
dripping onto a rock's horizontal surface. But this figure, quite aside from its compelling appearance
of artificiality, is strong evidence to the contrary (confirmed
by a professional geologist) since the image is on the vertical
broken edge of the rock, perpendicular to its horizontal strata.
The rock, shown in the photo below, was found eroding next to a petroglyph
on the same material roughly 60 cm (24") below the current
unglaciated and undisturbed terrain surface. |
| Below: On one side of the
rock (apparently cortical) bearing the painting on its edge, probably natural features have
been enhanced, by the same carving technique as on the larger
petroglyph, to produce an image strongly sug- gestive of a
mastodon head profile looking to the right. |
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| A zoomorphic painting on
limestone. Note how the image conforms to the contour of
the rock. What it might represent is, of course,
debatable, but a flying juvenile bison seems
plausible, as suggested by Dr.
James Harrod.
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Below: The artifact viewed from
above. |
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| Below: A close-up
of the pigmenting material, a hardened paste, in the
figure's eye. |
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To confirm that it is not a
natural occurrence, this piece was taken to the labor- atories
of NSL Analytical Services in Cleveland, Ohio for compositional analysis
by x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. It was determined that
the dark material is a superficial layer of red ochre
(iron-oxide-based pigment) quite
distinct from the limestone. The table below shows the
elemental compositions of the lime- stone and of the pigmentation: |
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| Another painting on limestone, a more or less anthropomorphic
figure. Note
the typical artificial incisions on the rock. |
| These two paintings on
limestone seem to present the fairly common theme of the heads
of two creatures face to face. |
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A zoomorphic
figure on limestone. |
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| An interesting combination of
painting and carving on limestone. This surface is from
the rock's interior, the piece having been carved from a larger
stone. The opposite site is cortex (natural exterior
surface.) This figure is small - the height of the larger
(lower left) painted surface is only 8 mm (0.3"). |
| The eye on this limestone
horse-like carving was painted with the same material. |
| A painted bird-form
limestone. The theme is not exactly obvious, but may be
the characteristic one of zoomorphic figures emerging from other
figures. |
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The reverse
side. Note the distinctly carved beak. |
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Combination painting and carving on
limestone. Length 44 mm (1.7"). |
| The iron component in this
piece's pigment seems more than just an oxide, being quite dense
and having a pronounced attraction to a magnet. |
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