Weeksville Pictographs, Western Montana: The Importance of Location

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Interdisciplinary Approaches to Rock Art Documentation, Research, and Analysis" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Setting and geographic context have always been integral to rock art analysis and are important in combination with symbolic content for determining site function. The Weeksville Pictographs in western Montana exemplify intentional selection of a location for pre- and postcontact rock art by both Natives and immigrants. The precontact pictographs are dominated by red paintings in the Columbia Plateau style, and early Euro-American painted additions serve as roadside signs to advertise a store at the nearby town of Plains. This specific rock face has continuously served as a public billboard for travelers along a route through the western mountains, first as a historic Indian trail and subsequently as an early regional roadway. The site is important in the evaluation of what we categorize as graffiti and what might be erroneously removed in the guise of preservation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Interdisciplinary Approaches to Rock Art Documentation, Research, and Analysis   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38810.0