Introduction

Over 80 years ago, W.J. Wintemberg (1924)published his treatise, “Examples of Graphic Arton Archaeological Artifacts from Ontario.” Themajority of his examples made on stone werefound in artifact collections from southwesternOntario. The fact that only half a dozen or soadditional examples have since been discoveredand reported over the intervening eight decadesattests to their rarity in the archaeological record.These inscribed items consist of tabular pieces ofslate or other kinds of rock, or are made on for-mal artifacts such as pendants and gorgets. Inthis paper I consider portable objects or artifactsthat have been etched. (For consideration ofcarved figures and carved stone pipes seeRobertson, this volume.)

In terms of raw material, slate appears to bethe most prevalent, although examples madefrom siltstone, shale, and catlinite are also found.The latter materials are easy to work but do nothave the hardness or permanence of slate. Slate isnot only hard but also fine-grained. It fracturesinto thin sheets and is relatively free of inclu-sions. It is also easy to obtain in cobble form orfrom primary sources in most areas around theGreat Lakes region. For that reason it is an idealmedium, provided one has the right tools towork it. Prior to European contact and the intro-duction of metal tools the designs were likelyetched into the slate with chert burins or gravers.

Slate comes in a variety of colours and pat-terns. Colours include black, brown and red.Perhaps the most visually appealing was

“Huronian banded slate” with its distinctive var-iegated grey/green and black banding.

In many cases the natural properties of thestone define the form of the design. In particular,the natural grain and peculiarities in the stoneappear to have guided the artist. This is most evi-dent with other carefully crafted stone artifacts,such as birdstones, in which careful attention ispaid to the banding in the slate. Protruding eyes,for example, coincide with concentric circles inthe material. This kind of attention is also cer-tainly true of pictographs, whose placement andarrangement take advantage of (or pay homageto) natural features of the rock face—especiallycrevices, which have been described as entrance-ways into the under world (Rajnovich 1994:35).Indeed, looking closely at the celebratedMichipeshu, the great water lynx or panther atthe Agawa pictograph site (Figure 1), one can seethe subtle use of fissures in the rock to representa life-line entering through the head of the crea-ture through to its heart and exiting out its rearend. As it leaves Michipeshu, the life-line isforked, denoting its great power. Here the natu-ral features of the rock appear to have guided theplacement of this pictograph. This life-line fromthe head to the heart also appears on depictionsof Michipeshu on birchbark Midé scrolls(Rajnovich 1994:103).

In terms of temporal placement, designsetched in stone occur in the Great Lakes archae-ological record from as early as the Late Archaicperiod and continue into the contact period.This temporal range mirrors the age estimated byRajnovich (1994:41) for pictographs, although it

Cooper Etched in Stone: Ground Stone as a Symbolic Medium 63

Etched in Stone: Ground Stone as a Symbolic Medium

Martin Cooper

Visual renderings on stone appear occasionally in the archaeological record providing a rare glimpse intothe abstractions and ideas of their creators. This paper reviews the occurrences of these objects in the GreatLakes region and attempts to identify stylistic patterns and their associated symbolic meaning. They areviewed within the context of both the anthropological and Aboriginal iconographic interpretations of pic-tographs and petroglyphs found throughout the Canadian Shield.

is recognized that the majority of the extant pic-tographs were painted during the eighteenth andnineteenth centuries. This may be a taphonomicrather than a real phenomenon in that older pic-tographs are less likely to have survived throughtime. As the majority of stone artifacts withinscribed designs are found in collections of arti-facts without provenience, precise dating of theseobjects is problematic. Based on style, mostetched slate gorgets or pendants appear to date tothe Early and Middle Woodland periods.

The design elements have been categorized fordescriptive purposes into bird, animal and humanforms. In addition, there are designs that appear torepresent abstract symbols, some of which may beinterpreted as lightning, or lines of power.

The Etched Artifacts

Bird FormsThe thunderbird appears to have been amongthe most prevalent of animal forms. Thunderbirdrepresentations are found throughout the lasttwo thousand years and are also well representedon pictographs. It is clear that the primary

importance of the thunderbird in both theAnishinaabe and Haudenasaunee pantheon (andbeyond) accounts for its popularity. The thun-derbird is seen as a guardian manitou and itsdwelling place atop high cliffs may, in part,account for the placement of pictographs on rockfaces. According to Anishinaabe legend, thethunderbird is an extremely powerful creature,believed to be the source of lightning and thun-der, and also seen as a guardian spirit; as such, itmay have been etched into pendants and gorgets,both to imbue an individual with power and asprotection against negative or evil forces (Fox2004:291-292; Rajnovich 1994:111; Vastokasand Vastokas 1973:91). While the function ofgorgets or pendants is enigmatic, their bi-conicaland careful placement of holes suggest that theywere suspended around the neck. Similarlyshaped and decorated items have no holes andmay have been kept in medicine bundles (Fox2004:298; Fox and Molto 1994:38). The gener-al outline is rectanguloid to trapezoidal.

While thunderbird forms vary greatly in theirdesign, some common elements include out-stretched wings, a forked tail and the head, in

64 Ontario Archaeology No. 79/80, 2005

Figure 1. Michipeshu at the Agawa Pictographs, Lake Superior, Ontario.

profile, represented by two small parallel lines.This style of head is found on other kinds of ani-mal depictions. The thunderbird motif has beendiscussed in detail by Robertson (1997:376-383). A thunderbird-inscribed artifact was recov-ered in 1995 from the Peace Bridge site in FortErie, Ontario, and is one of the few stone etch-ings to have been found during a controlled exca-vation (Figure 2). It was excavated from a featurecontaining maize that was radiocarbon-dated tothe latter half of the seventeenth century(Robertson et al. 1997:504). The design is etchedinto a tabular piece of black slate, possibly a gor-get fragment, and consists of what appears to betwo different thunderbird designs. If this piece isderived from a gorget (gorgets were in use at least600 years earlier), then it may represent a curateditem. The complete thunderbird is quite stylized,with outstretched and down-drooping wings, afan shaped tail and the distinctive head in profilerepresented by two parallel lines. It appears thatpower lines extend out from the ends of the wings.Opposed to this figure is a second thunderbird,

the upper half of which is missing as the item wasbroken prior to being deposited in the feature.This figure appears to be a different style ofthunderbird with swallow-like wings and tail anda more realistic torso.

Also recovered from the Peace Bridge site(Surma area) in the 1960s, but in a burial con-text, were an inscribed ground slate gorget and asecond possible gorget fragment (Emerson andNoble 1966:79-83, Plate 5), both of which wereassociated with Princess Point Complex burialsthat predated the Peace Bridge thunderbird byabout a millennium (Stothers 1977:67). Bothappear to have feather-like patterns. The com-plete gorget (Figure 3 and Fox 1990:Figure 6.8d,e) is actually shaped like the distal end of a pri-mary feather from a large bird. These designs,too, may be representations associated with thegreat Thunderbird, although Robertson(1997:385) has offered alternative interpreta-tions of the design, relating them to the WorldTree or to the x-ray or skeletalized style of repre-sentation.

Wintemberg (1924:Plate 1, Figure 10; Plate 2,Figure 1, 2, and 4; Plate 4, Figure 5) illustratesseveral ground slate pieces exhibiting thunder-bird representations that range from simple, styl-ized line etching to quite realistic and creativeinterpretations. The first of them is a simple butelegant line drawing found on a carefully shapedbut unperforated slate bar collected near Arkona,Ontario, in the late nineteenth century (Figure4). It consists of six simple lines—a vertical linerepresenting the torso, outstretched down-drooping wings and a forked tail.

The second thunderbird is on a slate pendantfound in a collection of artifacts assembled in thenineteenth century from Oxford County (Figure5a). It is also a simple line drawing with similaroutstretched wings and forked tail. Unlike theArkona thunderbird, however, this example has ahead, which, like the Peace Bridge thunderbird,is in profile and is comprised of two simple par-allel lines. On either side of the thunderbird andon the obverse side are zigzag lines, which cer-tainly represent lightning; one of the thunder-bird’s many powerful qualities is that it emitslightning when it blinks (Vastokas and Vastokas

Cooper Etched in Stone: Ground Stone as a Symbolic Medium 65

Figure 2. Opposing thunderbirds engraved on a slate from thePeace Bridge Site (AfGr-9), Fort Erie, Ontario. Photographcourtesy of Archaeological Services Inc.

1973:91). A second etched creature on the pen-dant appears to be a slender animal that is remi-niscent of an otter. Lines emanating from one legindicate that this creature has considerablepower. The association between Midé shamans

and bags made from otter skins is well estab-lished in pictographic images, some of whichhave accompanying power lines (Rajnovich1994:123-5). The otter bag carried by the Midéshaman contains a sacred medicine bundle hold-ing great power.

The third item is also a slate gorget, found nearGuelph, Ontario, at the turn of the twentiethcentury (Figure 5b). This example is remarkablein that the design emanates from the gorget’s per-forations: the down-curved wings and neck gen-erate from the upper hole; the legs from thelower hole. A tail has been fashioned at the baseof the gorget. Unlike other representations, theGuelph bird is more crane than raptor. Thethunderbird need not, however, be a raptor. Inthe first half of the seventeenth century, theJesuit Jean de Brebeuf stated that the Hurondescribed the thunderbird as being part-humanand part-turkey (Tooker 1967:82). This mayexplain the significance of a possible turkey effi-gy pipe recovered from the fourteenth-centuryIroquoian Robb site (Williamson et al. 2001).

The fourth example illustrated by Wintemberg(1924: Plate 2, Figure 4), which resembles aninverted candelabra, is etched into a Huronianbanded slate pendant from a Late Iroquoian vil-lage in Elgin County (Figure 6). The thunderbird

66 Ontario Archaeology No. 79/80, 2005

Figure 3. Feather motif on a perforated slate bar from the Surma area of the Peace Bridge site (AfGr-9), Fort Erie, Ontario(Robertson 1997: 384, Figure 8.23b).

Figure 4. Thunderbird image on a slate bar from Arkona, Ontario (Boyle 1891:43, Figure 98).

Figure 5. Thunderbird engraved on a perforated slate barshowing lightning or power lines emanating wing (a) anddepicted as crane-like image on a two-hole slate gorget (b).Reproduced from Wintemberg 1924).

figure consists of a simple vertical line and twohorizontal lines that form the wings and tail.Trailing from the wings and tail are small, incisedlines that represent either feathers or lines ofpower. The head appears in profile and consistsof two parallel lines.

Animal FormsVarious animal figures are also occasionallyfound etched into stone. Recently, Chris Ellis(2002) described a particularly interesting exam-ple found in the large Garnham collection fromsouthwestern Ontario (Figure 7). According toEllis (2002:24), this artifact is a portion of abanded slate gorget dating to the Early or MiddleWoodland period. He interprets the animal fig-ures as either dog or wolf based on their long up-curving tails and he explains their significance inreference to the sacred nature of dogs in bothIroquoian and Algonquian ritual (Ellis 2002:34).Like many other figures etched on stone, theseones are simple line drawings, the bodies repre-sented by a horizontal line, simple stick legs andthe characteristic head in profile consisting oftwo parallel lines. Extending up from the head

are ears, or possibly horns. There are, in total,seven figures inscribed on both surfaces. Whilethey appear to be remarkably similar, Ellisbelieves they were executed by two differentartists (Ellis 2002:31).

Similar animal figures were also inscribed on apiece of slate, possibly a pendant or broken gor-get, that was found in the Edwards collectionassembled in and around the Komoka area westof London and now housed in the Museum ofOntario Archaeology (Figure 8). The Edwardspendant has been described and illustrated byWintemberg (1924: Plate 2, Figure 2) and morerecently by Ellis (2002:33). It has two animal fig-ures that have been variously interpreted ascervids and canids. Given the long tail and whatcould be interpreted as horns these figures mayrepresent Michipeshu, the great lynx. In additionto the animal figures, there are also a series ofwhat appear to be abstract images. They includea centrally placed horizontal zigzag that appearsto be important to the composition. This zigzagline may represent lightning, and lines emanat-ing from it at right angles may be power lines.Alternatively, the zigzag could represent the pathof life as outlined in the Midé teaching scrolls(Rajnovich 1994:136). There is also a doublezigzag or lightning symbol separating the twoanimal figures. It is significant that the zigzaglines are forked, like lightning, perhaps repre-senting an expression of extreme power. This iscomparable to the aforementioned forked fissurepassing through the Agawa Michipeshu (Figure1). Most compelling are similar paired zigzags atthe bottom of the piece that appear to frame twoparallel horizontals crossed by a vertical. Similardesigns have been interpreted from rock art andbirchbark scrolls as a Midé lodge, although theusual pattern depicted appears to be more lad-der-like.

It is possible that the Edwards slate pendantserved a similar function as either a teaching orguiding reference although in a recent articleVastokas (2003) has made a distinction betweenpictography of rock art sites and the later emer-gence of pictography on Midé teaching scrolls.According to Vastokas, while the meaning of theimages may be the same, the scrolls were a

Cooper Etched in Stone: Ground Stone as a Symbolic Medium 67

Figure 6. “Candelabra” thunderbird on a perforated slate piece(Wintemberg 1924).

mnemonic device for teaching. Perhaps theEdwards pendant should, therefore, be viewed asa composition of symbols much like a panel ofrock art. Dating of the Edwards pendant is diffi-cult, although it certainly dates prior toEuropean contact. The Edwards collectionincludes a substantial Middle Iroquoian compo-nent but also contains much earlier Archaic andWoodland material.

While the figures on the gorget described byEllis and the Edwards pendant may be represen-tations of Michipeshu, perhaps the most com-pelling and convincing Michipeshu etched on

stone comes from the early nineteenth-centuryLa Ronde fur trade post on Lake Nipissing(Barnes 1997). This etching is on a flat piece ofcatlinite, a soft reddish stone also used for mak-ing smoking pipes. The figure is clearlyMichipeshu, having the characteristic horns aswell as spines extending down the length of itsback. According to Ojibwa legend, LakeNipissing is one of the many dwelling places ofthe great horned panther, as its calm water canwhip up with no warning.

William Fox (2004) has outlined the potentialsignificance of Michipeshu to the people who

68 Ontario Archaeology No. 79/80, 2005

Figure 7. Depictions of animal fig-ures engraved on slate gorget fromthe Garnham Collection, SouthNorwich Township, Ontario (Ellis2002:24, Figure 2).

lived around Lake Erie and has suggested that thepresence of slate and shale pebble pendants maysymbolize the scales of Michipeshu. He furthersuggests that the name of the Iroquoian group,the Erie, who were also known as the Nation ofthe Cat, may be derived from the great underwa-ter lynx. The pendant illustrated in Figure 9 haswhat appear to be symbols representing thejagged spine of Michipeshu.

Human FormsHuman forms etched into ground stone occurvery rarely. Three of them are illustrated byWintemberg (1924:Plate 2:Figure 8; Plate4:Figures 4, 9). The first of them is on a stonependant found near Iroquois, Ontario, on thenorth shore of the St. Lawrence River (Figure

10). The symbolism or theme of this piece isdeath. One side of the pendant has a humanskeleton that hangs upside down when worn.Over the right shoulder of the figure is a star,which may represent night. The skeleton and itsorientation are symbolic of death. Among theAnishinaabeg, figures representing totems wereplaced upside down on grave posts. The star, too,is associated with death, as it was along the MilkyWay or the path of souls that one traveled to thevillage of the dead. On the other side of the pen-dant is the image of an owl, which, when sus-pended, would be right side up. While owls arecommonly found adorning Late Iroquoian effigypipes and do appear on Midé birchbark scrolls,this owl is the only example I have seen etched instone. To the Anishinaabeg, the owl is a symbolof death and also a transmitter or carrier of med-icine (Dewdney 1975:101-102; Densmore1979:114). What appears to be the sun shiningbrightly over the head of this night bird may mir-ror the night imagery of the opposite side. Theparallel zigzag lines on either side of the owl mayrepresent lightning bolts and their associatedpower. Alternatively, Robertson (this volume)has interpreted similar chevron-like designs asentoptic images related to altered states of con-sciousness. Williamson and Veilleux (this vol-ume) describe a bone pendant with an owl’s headengraved on it that, when suspended, would beinverted like the skeleton on the pendantdescribed above.

The second human figure is from the St.Lawrence Iroquoian Roebuck site and is a simpledrawing of a person wearing what appears to bea sash and some kind of headdress, or possibly

Cooper Etched in Stone: Ground Stone as a Symbolic Medium 69

Figure 8. Engraved slate piece from the Edwards collection,Komoka Ontario, now part of the Jury Collection, Museum ofArchaeology, London Ontario (Wintemberg 1924).

Figure 9. Pebble pendant with engraved triangles possibly repre-senting the spine of Michipeshu (Wintemberg 1924).

Figure 10. Slate pendant showing human figure on one sideand owl on obverse (Wintemberg 1924).

lines representing power (Figure 11a). The headsin both this figure and in the one discussed pre-viously face the viewer.

The third human form, engraved on a pebble,is from southwestern Ontario and consists of asimple stick man drawing a bow (Figure 11b).Lines emanating from the area of the head mayrepresent power. Pictograph images of archersfound on Burntside Lake along the Ontario-Minnesota border have been interpreted byRajnovich (1994: 54) as symbols denoting warmedicine.

Conclusions

The majority of etched designs share similarities,despite temporal, spatial and possibly ethnic dif-ferences, that suggest these etchings were notidiosyncratic or random. Indeed, almost all ofthem occur on slate gorgets and pendants, whichEllis (2002: 37) argues may be the equipment ofreligious practitioners. With the exception of theGarnham gorget, all of the images are orientedalong the long axis of the artifact. The recurringuse of symbols imbued with power, such as thun-derbirds, Michipeshu, and lightning bolts, indi-cate they were intended either to bestow poweror protect an individual from malignant forces.The ways in which certain features are represent-ed appear to be patterned or guided by conven-tion—the use of two parallel lines to representthe thunderbird head in profile, for example, orthe use of simple lines to represent the legs, torsoand wings. Of course, given the hardness of themedium and the tools at hand; simple straightlines are probably the most efficient way of exe-cuting a design.

What is the meaning of these symbols etchedinto stone? In reference to pictographic symbols,Vastokas (2003:7) points out that “a few havealready been recognized as conventional signs inboth form and meaning…many other pic-tographs, however, are arbitrary and idiosyncratic,meaning one thing in one context and another ina different context.” Perhaps the most importantaspect of these rare artifacts is that they extendAboriginal pictography in the Great Lakes regionback some two millennia and, specifically for

those items found around the lower Great Lakes,they provide a glimpse of the iconic images in aregion where there are few or no rock-based pic-tographs.

Finally, even though many of these etchings onstone have been in the literature for well over acentury, like the Michipeshu at Agawa, we mustfrequently return to look carefully at these objectsto elicit their constantly changing meanings.

Acknowledgements. I thank David Robertsonand Bill Fox for providing input into some of theideas presented in this paper. I also thank RonWilliamson for reviewing and commenting onan earlier draft of this paper. Finally, I thankMike Spence, who reviewed this paper and pro-vided excellent comments, which were incorpo-rated into the final draft.

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Cooper Etched in Stone: Ground Stone as a Symbolic Medium 71

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Gravé sur pierre : pierre polie comme moyen symbolique

Les interprétations visuelles sur pierre, qui apparaissent occasionnellement dans le recordarchéologique, offrent un aperçu rare dans les abstractions et les idées de leurs créateurs. Cet articleexamine la présence de ces objets dans la région des Grands Lacs et tente d’identifier des motifs styl-istiques ainsi que leurs significations symboliques. Ces objets sont examinés dans le contexte d’uneinterprétation anthropologique ainsi qu’autochtone de l’iconographie rupestre retrouvée au travers duBouclier canadien.

Martin CooperArchaeological Services Inc.528 Bathurst StreetToronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 2P9mcooper@iasi.to