Heritage, Volume 9, Number 1, Winter 1991 Page: 11
29 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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images of burning buildings, and because of
the combination of themes-missions and
burning buildings-it is possible that the
Cowhead Mesa petroglyphs show the 1758
attack on the mission and presidio at San
Saba. While this is an intriguing idea, there
is not good evidence to support such an
interpretation, and it is doubtful if such a
connection could ever be proven.
Combat biography petroglyph,
Mujares Creek, Oldham County
Perhaps the most intriguing of all of the
rock art which can be attributed to the
Plains Indians can be classified as "combat
biographies" or most likely autobiographies.
Like similar images painted on
buffalo robes and tipi covers, rock art combat
scenes serve to tell the story of a specific
incident usually involving the artist. Combat
biographies also progress from abstract
simple images in the Early Biographic style
to more complex realistic images in the
Late Biographic style. Some of the people
depicted are obviously Indians, while
others represent white men and are usually
shown wearing brimmed hats. People are
sometimes shown alone on foot or on
horseback, but they are often shown in
complex scenes with other people, numerous
horses, weapons, etc. It is likely
that some of the people in rock art scenes
actually depict the artist and that the artist
illustrated himself taking part in a battle.
Examples of simple combat biographies
are found in petroglyphs from Garza and
Oldham. Based on comparisons with
Plains Indian combat scenes in other art
forms, it is clear what these images represent.
One scene depicts a victorious
mounted warrior with his enemy impaled
on his lance, while another depicts an Indian
in combat with a white man. Both of
these scenes were intended by the artist to
convey the stories of battle exploits to their
peers and to reinforce or enhance their
status within the society.
A somewhat more general type of
combat biography is found at the Verbenasite in Garza County. This complex scene
represents a battle involving many people,
and there is no apparent intent to document
only one individual's exploits. Thesimple guns, shown as sticks with tr
gular ends, each represent a single pern
most likely white soldiers. Each horse h
shown as a curved line, represents a sil
mounted Indian. Horse hoof and
symbols were commonly used by PI;
Indians. The other symbols most lil
depict weapons such as a bow, lances,
shields, and the long arrows at the ut
right may be either weapons or indicate
direction of attack. The dashed lines to
left of the guns suggest that the soldiers
on foot, and the horse hooves on the
thest left may indicate that the Indi
pursued them for some distance. The
man figure at the far left is definitely relc
to the story, although it is not clear exa
how. The entire scene has been interpret
as representing a battle between infar
troops and mounted Indians which n
likely occurred somewhere on the Sot
em Plains. The human figure may rel
sent one of the battle participants, 1
haps a soldier. One can speculate furt]
but for now the evidence can only supj
this general interpretation.
The above examples are certainly
comprehensive and only constitute a sr
sample of the variability and complexit
the historic Indian rock art found in
Texas Panhandle-Plains. The history
the Plains Indians is a complex and of
sad story of cultural interaction, confi
and acculturation, but the story is de(
edly biased. Our perception of Plains
dians is based mainly upon the writ
7K
Battle scene petrog
chronicles of Anglo-Americans who M
participants in the extermination of
Indian way of life and who, with few exc
tions, had no interest in Plains Indian <
ture and history. While it is unfortur
that the Plains Indians did not leave
hind their own written historical accou
a fairly accurate picture of their lifestyl
preserved in the material culture that
survived. While we know a great deal abthe Plains lifestyle in general, we kr
considerably less about their ideology;
society. Historians, anthropologists,;
archaeologists are constantly re-evaluatthe documentary and physical evidence
and re-thinking the Plains Indian phenomenon.Indian rock art is an extremely valuable
line of evidence which provides us a unique
opportunity to increase our knowledge of
the past, but in the Texas PanhandlePlains
region it is an often overlooked and
misunderstood resource. Only recently
have researchers begun to study rock art as
an integral part of the cultural systems that
produced it. More importantly, advances
in interpreting historic period Indian rock
art are beginning to give us a greater appreciation
for the social and ideological
complexities of their lifestyles and add to
our understanding of the peoples we call
Plain Indians.
The crucial task facing anthropologists
and historians today is to document the
rapidly vanishing rock art sites before they
are destroyed. Modem development is destroying
all kinds of archaeological sites at
an alarming rate, and the federal and state
laws for protecting cultural resources do
only a small part to save or document these
nonrenewable resources. Even worse, however,
is the vandalism which destroys archaeological
sites. Unlike most sites, which
are destroyed by relic collectors or pothunters-who
intend to sell artifactsrock
art sites are most commonly destroyed
out of ignorance. Thoughtless people spray
paint or carve their names over Indian rock
art, and it takes only seconds for someone
to destroy fragile images that have survived_ ~~1 1 I/-' -
C- c"Q /c/I
c(- r- r r^;lyph, Verbena site, Garza County
vere for hundreds or thousands of years. The
the most seemingly innocent alterations, such
:ep- as making a rubbing of a fragile surface or
cul- chalking in petroglyphs to get a better phoiate
tograph, can destroy important evidence.
be- We who appreciate our cultural heritage
nts, have an obligation to educate the public.
le is Rock art is a valuable resource that can be
has photographed, studied, and enjoyed by
)out everyone, but should be left alone.
now
and
and Douglas K. Boyd is staff archeologist for Prewitt &
tine Associates, Inc.HERITAGE * WINTER 1991 11
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Texas Historical Foundation. Heritage, Volume 9, Number 1, Winter 1991, periodical, Winter 1991; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth45422/m1/11/: accessed May 13, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas Historical Foundation.