Canadian Shield Rock Art Tradition Quiz

Answer: Pictograph

Pictographs refer to drawn or painted imagery that is created by applying pigment to a rock surface. Petroglyphs refer to images that have been carved, pecked, scratched or likewise incised into the surface of rocks. Petroforms refer to images that have been created by positioning several separate boulders or cobbles of rock upon the surface of the ground to create an outline of the figure; sometimes these are referred to as "effigies" or "boulder alignments." A fourth type of rock art called "lichenoglyphs" compose a more recent occurrence. Lichenoglyphs are images that have been created by scraping away the black lichen that grows on rock surfaces, thereby exposing the contrasting color and texture of the rock underneath.

Answer: Red ochre

Red ochre or hematite pigment is a prepared derivative of oxidized ferrous (iron) minerals to which an organic binding agent is added so that the pigment adheres to the rock on a molecular level. It is this binding agent that allows these paintings to be preserved for centuries and even millennia.

Answer: All of these

Rock art is created for a variety of significant reasons. Sites may have a specific reason for existing, or they may have multiple reasons.

Answer: These locations represent the three cosmos and were regarded as the home of the spirits.

There are many significant reasons for placing these panels on rock, in direct context to water, a few of the most important are listed here. First, it was along these waterways, which served as ancient highways for people travelling through the area, that panels were positioned because it allowed the images to be openly viewed, revered, respected and honored by passing travellers. Secondly, the geological characteristics of these waterways in the Shield allows for a multitude of sheer, flat and clean rock surfaces in the form of cliff outcrops that provide an effective "canvas." Thirdly, and most importantly, is that such places where the sky, land and water (representative of the tripartite cosmology of the Algonquin peoples) meet and come together at a point horizon, are where the homes of the manitous can be found.

Answer: From within a canoe

Ethnographic evidence suggests that the majority of these panels were created by individuals from within a canoe. Also, there are many examples of where directly beneath these panels are found benches of level rock which would allow the artist to stand while creating the art.

It has also been postulated that access to these cliff faces (and hence painting activities) was during the winter when the water surface was frozen, thus allowing over-ice travel; however, the effectiveness of applying organic paste-like pigment, to a very cold (and closed pore/grain) rock surface in sub-zero temperatures is up for debate as the pigment would likely fail to adhere and freeze then spall off.

Answer: Any person wishing to share their vision

Rock paintings, although almost always of a ceremonial nature, were created by many different people and were not restricted to primarily shamans or holy medicine practitioners. Both young men and women during puberty rites were known to paint images after receiving their totem animal spirit via fasting-induced altered states of consciousness. Hunters, who requested and successfully acquired spirit assistance in harvesting game animals, frequently commemorated the hunt through the creation of rock art, which also paid tribute to the assisting spirits.

Many of the panels are also traditionally believed to have been created by spirit beings themselves, who would paint panels at the doorways to their homes within the rock.

Answer: The fingers

Most often the fingers were used as the applicator for painting as it added an extra level of personal significance in creating (or physically bringing into being) the images.

Answer: Very important as it was well known that these images, and the message contained therein would last forever.

Many of these panels have been regarded as important teachings and lessons, handed down from ancestors that lived thousands of years ago and they therefore instill cultural values and traditions that are still important today. Some panels in the Shield have been dated to well over two thousand years before the present day.

The artist(s), in knowing the durability and lasting properties afforded by such paintings, put much complex thought into the images' creation, and arranged motifs in such a manner that multiple and inter-related meanings resulted.

Answer: Observe them with respect and avoid physically touching them

The best way to ensure that people will continue to enjoy and learn from the panels is to observe these images in a non-invasive manner. The oils from people's hands are damaging to such panels, and therefore the more people who touch them, the more damage occurs.

These panels were meant to be experienced as a visual phenomenon and thus the best way to regard them with respect is by using your eyes alone to interact with them. Unfortunately, there are examples of all of the above listed damaging activities to panels in the Shield region and such action can be mitigated by informing the public as to their cultural significance and appropriate visiting conduct.

These sites still hold as much significance to the contemporary cultures whose ancestors originally created them as they did when they first came into being; thus, these sites should be regarded as ceremonially significant and paid the same amount of respect that would be given to any other religious shrine, temple or church.

Answer: Humanoids

Humans are the most common depicted element in Shield Tradition rock art. Assuming a number of different poses and contexts, humans are typically drawn or painted in an immediately recognizable stick-form. Sometimes the only human element is a solid complete hand-print, which characterizes the most personal way to identify who had created the artwork.