Picture-Writing of the American Indians: Tenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1888-89, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1893, pages 3-822Mallery, Garrick
History
Picture-Writing of the American Indians: Tenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1888-89, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1893, pages 3-822
Mallery, Garrick
Picture-writing, Indian
Others have cut their initials or full names in these rocks,
thus for an obscure record whose unriddling would award the
antiquarian, substituting one, the correct deciphering of which
leads to obscurity itself.
At McCalls ferry, on the Susquehanna river, in Lancaster county, and
on the right shore near the water’s edge, is a gray gneissoid flat
rock, bearing petroglyphs that have been pecked upon the surface. It
is irregular in shape, measuring about 3-1/2 by 4 feet in superficial
area, upon which is a circle covering nearly the entire surface, in the
middle of which is a smaller circle with a central point. On one side of
the inner space, between the outer and inner circles, are a number of
characters resembling human figures and others of unintelligible form.
The petroglyph is represented in Fig. 72.
[Illustration: FIG. 72.--Petroglyph at McCalls ferry, Pennsylvania.]
The resemblance between these drawings and those on Dighton rock is to
be noted, as well as that between both of them and some in Ohio. All
those localities are within the area formerly occupied by tribes of the
Algonquian stock.
Near Washington, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, on “Mill stream,”
one-fourth of a mile above its junction with the Susquehanna river, is
a large bowlder of gray sandstone (Fig. 73), the exposed portion of
which bears several deeply incised lines which appear to have served as
topographic indicators, as several others of like kind occur farther
downstream. The longest incision is about 28 inches in length, the
next one parallel to it, about 14 inches, while the third character is
V-shaped, one arm of which is about 10 inches in length and the other
12. The apex of this character points in a southeast direction.
[Illustration: FIG. 73.--Petroglyph near Washington, Pennsylvania.]
One-eighth of a mile farther down is another bowlder, also near the
water, which bears shorter lines than the preceding, but in general
pointing almost southeast and northwest.
The workmanship is similar to that at Conowingo, Maryland, at the site
of the Bald Friar rocks. The marks appear to have been chipped to a
considerable depth and then rubbed with sand and some hard substance so
as to present a smooth and even surface, removing all or nearly all of
the pecked surface.
Mr. P. W. Shafer, on the same historical map of Pennsylvania before
mentioned, presents also a group of pictures copied from the originals
on the Alleghany river, in Venango county, 5 miles south of Franklin,
on what is known as the Indian God rock. There are but six characters
furnished in his copy, three of which are variations of the human form,
while the others are undetermined.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account