Most petroglyphs in Pennsylvania are similar stylistically to Algonquian art found throughout the Northern mid-west, Northeast, and into Canada. It may be that petroglyphs are generally associated with organized tribes and/or farming and this form of social organization and subsistence occurs relatively late in Pennsylvania. This relatively young age is in contrast to other parts of the world or even the Southwestern United States where they are likely much older. Some of the images are very similar to those used by historic Native Americans and therefore it is probable that they date within the recent past. At any one site, they are usually of the same style and the markings do not exhibit any obvious differences in aging based on surface erosion of the rock. However, in Pennsylvania, petroglyphs are likely less than 1000 years old. In Africa and Europe they can be tens of thousands of years old. One hypothesis holds that most of the petroglyphs were made by the Algonquians and petroglyphs were not a significant characteristic of Iroquois imagery. There are few petroglyphs in the land of the Iroquois and most of the images are more like Algonquian images than Iroquois images. They are surrounded by Algonquian speakers in New England and southern Pennsylvania. The Iroquoian speakers were centered in what is now New York State and the eastern Great Lakes. In the Northeastern United States, there were two major Native American language groups - Iroquoian and Algonquian. There is probably a culturally determined geographical distribution to petroglyphs. It is interesting that there are very few examples in the Upper Susquehanna drainage or the entire Delaware drainage. Because of the construction of hydroelectric projects on that portion of the Susquehanna, many of these petroglyphs have been submerged or removed for preservation. These are found within a 23-mile stretch running through southern Lancaster County to just below the Mason-Dixon Line. In contrast, the lower Susquehanna River has the highest concentration of petroglyphs in the Northeast with only 10 sites but probably more than 1000 separate carvings. There are nearly 30 sites recorded in the Ohio Valley although most of these are represented by small groups of images. Rarely are petroglyphs found in upland settings. The images can be found in clusters of a few to groups of hundreds. The majority of these are found in prominent locations, near water, especially larger rivers. There are less than 40 Native American petroglyph sites recorded in the Pennsylvania Archaeological Site Survey files (PASS). They are also unique in that many can be visited in the same place, in the same context, as when their makers created them. Therefore, these images give us our only direct window into the minds of prehistoric humans. However, these types of artifacts practically never survive in the archaeological contexts of Eastern North America. Many were likely portrayed in wood, basketry and clothing. The images and designs found at petroglyph sites were probably common in prehistoric societies. Originally, some may have been decorated and painted, but except for one or two instances, (36CB28, Chickaree Hill Petroglyphs 36E元, Laurel Run Pictographs) there is no evidence remaining on those that can be seen today. They are best viewed when the sun is at a low angle to the rock, usually early or late in the day. Because of this the petroglyphs can be very difficult to see. Pennsylvania's petroglyphs are usually carved less than three eights of an inch deep, and grooves making up designs are less than an inch wide. In soft sandstone they could be simply scratched into the surface (incised). Most petroglyphs were formed using harder stones (direct percussion) or hammer-stones and stone chisels (indirect percussion). They are found throughout the world and can date as far back as tens of thousands of years ago.Īlthough people often think of rock art as something found in the American Southwest, some of Pennsylvania's Native American Peoples also left a legacy of these images carved in stone. Forms include lines, dots, numbers, letters, human, animal, supernatural beings or astronomical images. Petroglyphs ("rock carvings" - From petro, meaning "rock" and glyph, meaning "symbol") -a form of rock art that consist of designs carved into the surface of natural rock.
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