Leaving a Calling Card: Why Is This Rock Art Here?

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Painting the Past: Interpretive Approaches in Global Rock Art Research" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Plains warfare is well known for its “gamesmanship” aspect, but one of the less emphasized parts of that is the practice of leaving a “calling card” flouting your entry into an enemy’s territory and your success against him. Recent research has located more than a dozen “out of place” northern Plains rock art sites. These are best explained as calling cards, carved or painted by marauding raiders in enemy territory for the purpose of taunting their enemies.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)   •
• Painting the Past: Interpretive Approaches in Global Rock Art Research

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37828.0