New Spatial Interpretations of Rock Art: A Case Study in the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 90th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This project examines the influence of landscape in distinguishing rock art traditions within the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, with a focus on the Dinwoody and Outline Pecked and Incised styles. Instead of analyzing the art itself, this study investigates the spatial distribution and environmental contexts of rock art sites to discern whether cultural and temporal factors influence provenance. The Dinwoody tradition dated to the early Archaic is primarily located west of the Bighorn River, the Outline Pecked and Incised tradition, dating to the Late Prehistoric, is predominantly situated on the basin's eastern edge, indicating distinct cultural and temporal origins. Through the application of resource-based surfaces, this research incorporates variables such as water sources, elevation, wildlife habitats, and viewsheds to evaluate the ecological significance of site locales. Utilizing comparative methodologies from studies conducted in England, Norway, and Australia, the results of this study elucidate how rock art locations reflect the lifeways and environmental interactions during their period of their creation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 90th Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (2025)   •
• SAA 2025: Individual Abstracts

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 52599