From the river valleys of interior British Columbia south to the hills
of interior British Columbia south to the hills of northern Oregon and
east to the continental divide in western Montana, hundreds of cliffs
and boulders display carved and painted designs created by ancient
artists who inhabited this area, the Columbia Plateau, as long as seven
thousand years ago. Expressing a vital social and spiritual dimension in
the lives of these hunter-gatherers, rock art captivates us with its
evocative power and mystery. At once an irreplaceable yet fragile
cultural resource, it documents Native histories, customs, and visions
through thousands of years. This valuable reference and guidebook
addresses basic questions of what petroglyphs and pictographs are, how
they were produced, and how archaeologists classify and date them. The
author, James Keyser, identifies five regions on the Columbia Plateau,
each with its own variant of the rock art style identifiable as
belonging exclusively to the region. He describes for each region the
setting and scope of the rock art along with its design characteristics
and possible meaning. Through line drawings, photographs, and detailed
maps he provides a guide to the sites where rock art can be viewed. In
western Montana, rock art motifs express the ritualistic seeking of a
spirit helper from the natural world. In interior British Columbia,
rayed arcs above the heads of human figures demonstrate the possession
of a guardian spirit. Twin figures on the central Columbia Plateau
reveal another belief - the special power of twins - and hunting scenes
celebrate successes of the chase. The grimacing, evocative face of
Tsagiglalal, in lower Columbia pictographs,testifies to the Plateau
Indians' "death cult" response to the European diseases that decimated
their villages between 1700 and 1840. On the southeastern Plateau,
images of horseback riders mark the adoption, after 1700, of the
equestrian and cultural habits of the northwestern
