Traditional Archaeological Methods and Their Applications at Rock Art Sites

Dating Crow Rock Art through Multivariate Statistical Comparison with Biographic Artworks

“…Two other sites we examined, Benjamin Hill and 24GV191, are much less well-known, but provide classic examples of Crow rock art. A fifth site, Musselshell (24ML1049), has only recently been recorded (Loendorf 2012), but the wealth of imagery there, especially of Crow images, has rapidly become important in several Plains rock art projects (Keyser 2012; Keyser and Poetschat 2014; Loendorf 2012). To provide further context, we briefly discuss each site in turn.…”

“…Situated along the north side of the Musselshell Valley about 100 km (60 miles) east of 24GV191 is the Musselshell site (24ML1049). Only recently recorded, the site has a wealth of petroglyphs and pictographs dating from the Late Prehistoric, Protohistoric, and Historic periods (Loendorf 2012:15–50). Shield-bearing warriors, dancers, nearly two dozen animals, and more than a dozen horses and riders are found on more than 30 panels of rock art carved and painted on the massive sandstone cliffs at the site.…”

“…These rock art scenes are detailed narratives with high-quality story content recounting the transition of the Crow from village farmers who broke away from the Hidatsa tribe to the full-fledged Plains equestrian bison hunters, best known from the work of Lowie (1935) and Wildschut (1926; Wildschut and Ewers 1960). Sites such as Joliet (Keyser and Cowdrey 2008; McCleary 2016), No Water (Keyser and Poetschat 2008), Four Dance Cliff (Conner and Conner 1971), Manuel Lisa (McCleary 2016), Musselshell (Loendorf 2012), Ellison's Rock (Keyser 2014), and Benjamin Hill (Fredlund 1976) are recorded in the literature. Dozens of others have equally compelling imagery, yet remain only partially recorded or incompletely studied.…”

“…Although there are large assemblages of both Crow rock art (Conner 1980, 1984; Conner and Conner 1971; Keyser 2010, 2012, 2014, 2018; Keyser and Cowdrey 2008; Keyser and Klassen 2001; Keyser and Minick 2018; Keyser and Poetschat 2009; Keyser and Renfro 2017; Loendorf 2012; McCleary 2008a, 2016) and portable biographic art in the form of painted robes and ledger drawings (Brownstone 2001; Cowles 1982; Heidenreich 1985; Keyser 1996; Logan and Schmittou 1995; Lowie 1935; Wildschut 1926), scholars have long lamented the absence of a strong connection—both chronological and stylistic—between these two datasets that would aid in interpreting the petroglyphs. Conner expressed this gap most succinctly: “Missing in the chain of evidence is a stylistic link between the rock drawings attributed to the Crow and the known Historic Crow hide paintings.…”

The Archer and the Shield-Bearing Warrior

“…The Painted Coulee site (24JT86) is located on a private ranch on the north flank of the Little Belt Mountains, about 60 km southeast of Great Falls, Montana (Figure 1; Supplemental Figure 1). Twenty-two panels of rock art were identified at the site (Loendorf et al 2022), dominated by red-painted figures with a lesser number of black figures. Multiple vertical stripes of red paint in horizontal rows, known as counter lines, extend across one-quarter of the site.…”