8/16/2019 Sympathetic Magic in Western North American Rock Art
1/25
Society for American Archaeology
Sympathetic Magic in Western North American Rock ArtAuthor(s): James D. Keyser and David S. WhitleySource: American Antiquity, Vol. 71, No. 1 (Jan., 2006), pp. 3-26Published by: Society for American ArchaeologyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40035319
Accessed: 18/11/2009 13:09
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless
you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you
may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.
Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=sam.
Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed
page of such transmission.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
Society for American Archaeology is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to
American Antiquity.
http://www.jstor.org
http://www.jstor.org/stable/40035319?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=samhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=samhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/40035319?origin=JSTOR-pdf
8/16/2019 Sympathetic Magic in Western North American Rock Art
2/25
SYMPATHETIC
MAGIC
IN WESTERN
NORTH AMERICAN ROCK
ART
James
D.
Keyser
and David
S.
Whitley
KflCTTiiwsU
Much
rock art worldwide
was
traditionally
nterpreted
n terms
of "huntingmagic,"
in
part
based on the related
concept
of "sympathetic
magic"
In the
last
forty years,
these
interpretations
were
disproven
n
many
regions
and now are
largely
ignored
as
potential explanations
or
the
origin
and
function of
the art. In certain cases this
may
be
premature.
Examina-
tion
of
the
ethnographic
and
archaeological
evidence
rom
western North America
supports
the
origin of
some
art
in
sym-
pathetic
magic (often
related to
sorcery)
in both
California
and the Plains and
provides
a case
for huntingmagic
as one
of
a series
of
ritual reasons
or
making
rock art in the Columbia
Plateau. Both case studies
emphasize
the
potential
diversity
in
origin, function,
and
symbolismof
shamanistic rock art.
Muchoarterupestremundial e ha interprets radicionalmente n terminosde "lamagiade caza,"basada en el conceptorela-
cionado
de "la
magiapor
imitacion."En los
ultimoscuarenta
anos,
esta
interpretacion
a sido
rechazada
n muchas
regiones
y
ahora
es
ignorada
en
granparte
como
explicacion
potencial para
el
origen y lafuncion
del arte. En ciertos casos este rec-
hazopuede
ser
prematuro.
Datos
etnograficos
en
Californiay
la
Grande
Llanurasostienen
un
origen
de
algun
arte en
magia
por
imitacion,
associado
con
brujeria,
mientras
que
la
etnografiay
la evidencia
arqueologica
de la
Meseta de
Columbia,
norteamerica,
muestranun caso
a
favor
de la
importancia
de la
magia
de
caza
como
razon
para
hacer
algunos
ejemplos
del
arte
rupestre.
Ambos casos acentuan
a diver idad
potencial
en el
origen, lafuncion
y
el simbolismodel arte
rupestre
hama-
nistico.
origin
and
meaning
of NorthAmerican
rockarthave
been discussed
or almost300
years, at least since Cotton Matherfirst
investigated
the
petroglyphs
of
Dighton
Rock,
Massachussetts
Molyneaux
1977).
Although
he
degree
of
intellectual nterest
n rock
arthas varied
over
his
ong period,
he ast wo decades
havewit-
nessed
a revolution
n
methods,
techniques,
and
interpretations
see
Whitley
2001)
accompanied
by
a
series of
important
iscoveries
e.g.,
Clottes
1998),
resulting
n what
has been called
a
"golden
age"
or rock art
studies
Whitley
2005).
One
cen-
tral characteristic
f this
recent
rock art research
has been awidespread greementhatmuchof the
hunter-gatherer
rock
art in North
America
is
shamanistic1
n
origin
(e.g.,
Boyd
2003;
Conway
and
Conway
1990;
Francis
and Loendorf
2002;
Hedges
1976,
1992;
Hudson
andLee
1984;
Keyser
1
992;
Keyser
and
Klassen200
1
Keyser
andWhit-
ley
2000;
Rajnovich
1994;
Turpin
1994;
Whitley
1992,
1994b,
2000).
The idea thatmuch
(but
not
all)
of this
hunter-
gatherer
ock
art was
created
by
shamans o
por-
tray hevisionary mageryof theiraltered tatesof
consciousness
xperiences,
r
by
non-shamans ur-
ing
shamanistic
ites,
n
fact s
not
a new idea.
Eth-
nologists
such as
Steward
1929),
Gayton
(1930,
1948)
and Cline
(1938),
to name
ust
a
few,
docu-
mented
his act n thefirst-half f thetwentieth
en-
tury,
and,
as
Conkey
(1997)
has
noted,
t has been
the attention
to and
analysis
of
ethnographic
accountssuch as theirs
that have been the
major
factors
n
the
resurgence
n rock artresearch.But
a seriesof earlier
archaeologists e.g.,
Grant
1967,
1968;HeizerandBaumhoff1959, 1962;vonWerl-
hof
1965)
also
argued
or a
shamanistic
rigin
for
this
art,
even
though they
overlooked
he ethno-
graphic
record.
Based
entirely
on
inference,
hey
attributedhe
art,
however,
o a
particularype
of
shamanistic
ractice,
ympathetic
unting
magic.
More
recently,
esearchers
n NorthAmerica
e.g.,
Christenson
1993;
Mundy
1981;
Rector
1979,
James
D.
Keyser
U.S.D.A.
Forest
Service,
1815
SW
DeWitt,
Portland,
OR 97201
David
S.
Whitley
447 Third
St.,
Fillmore,
CA 93015
American
Antiquity,
71(1),
2006,
pp.
3-26
Copyright©
2006
by
the
Society
for American
Archaeology
3
8/16/2019 Sympathetic Magic in Western North American Rock Art
3/25
4
AMERICAN
ANTIQUITY
[Vol.
71
,
No.
1
2006
1985;Whitley
982a,1994b,
1998b)
andelsewhere
(Bahn
1991;
Lewis-Williams
1981,
1983),
have
rejected
sympathetichuntingmagic
on
empirical
andconceptual rounds,ncludinga failure o find
support
or it in
the
ethnographic
ecord.A
quick
readof the
recent ockart iteraturehus
might
ead
to the
impression
hat
sympathetic
magic
has
been
entirely
eliminatedas
part
of the
potential
unc-
tional
variability
n
shamanistic
ock
art,
world-
wide.
Indeed,
this
might
also
suggest
a
complete
absence of
any
connectionsbetween
shamanistic
rock
art and
subsistence concerns and
practices
more
generally.
Our nteresthere is to avoid a circumstancen
which the
proverbial
aby
is thrownout
with the
bathwater.
oward his end
we review he
problem
of
sympathetic
magic
and
rock
art,
starting
irst
with
the
anthropological
iteratureon the
topic.
Turning
ext to
ethnographic
vidence or
sympa-
thetic
magic
in rock
art,
unrelated
o
hunting,
we
consider
thnographic
vidence orrock
artrelated
to
hunting
beliefs
and
practices,
potentially
nclud-
ing
sympathetic
huntingmagic.
Finally,
we dis-
cuss
possible
ways
that
hunting-related
ock art
maybedistinguishedromsuperficiallyimilarart
created
or other
purposes,
n the
absenceof
ethno-
graphic
data.
Sympathetic
Magic
Intellectual oncern
with
sympathetic
magic
has
a
long history
in
anthropology,
where it has been
embedded n
discussions of
magic,
science,
and
religion
as
contrasting
modes
of
knowledge
and
thought(Morris 1987; Tambiah1990). Indeed,
much
ate
nineteenth-
nd
early
twentieth-century
cultural
anthropological
research
was
directed
toward
dentifying
he
distinctions
between
these
three
arger henomena,
with
researchers s
diverse
as
James
G.
Frazer
1933),
Edward
Tylor
(1913),
Max
Weber
(1965)
and
Bronislaw
Malinowski
(1948)
discussing
he
topic
in
detail.
Although
he
arguments
f
these and
later
writers
e.g.,
Evans-
Pritchard
937;
Firth
1958)
differ
on
various
oints,
Pyysiainen
2004)
has
provided
a recent
synthesis
of thepointsof consensus.Theprimary f these is
a
working
distinction
between
religion
and
magic.
Both
concern
upernatural
gency
(thereby
differ-
ing
from
science),
but
magic
and
religion
fall on
different
ends
of a
causal
spectrum.
"In
magic,
supernaturalgents
and
forces
bring
about
speci-
fied effects
in
the
known
reality,
while
in
religion
natural ctionshave effects
in
a
supernatural
eal-
ity" (Pyysiainen2004:96-97).Magicin this sense
is
solely
intended o havea
practical
utcome
e.g.,
killing
a
game
animal)
whereas
religion
has as
its
goal
a
more ethereal
product (e.g., appeasing
a
deity),
even
hough
he
purpose
f that
appeasement
mayultimately
e directed oward
eal-worldends.
Magical
rites are then mechanistic
and determin-
istic;
religious
ituals
n contrast re
contingent
nd
uncertain
n
that,
undamentally,hey
nvolve
nego-
tiationswith the
supernatural.
At least two kinds of magicarealso acknowl-
edged
by
most writers.The first is
sympathetic
magic
where an effect resembles
ts
cause
("like
produces
ike").
The second is
contagiousmagic
where
hings
hatonce were n contactarebelieved
to continue o act on each
other,
ven at a distance.
In
practice,
these distinctions were sometimes
blurred.More
important
s the fact
that,
as
Boyer
(2001)
notes,
these
magical
beliefs
are related o
real
human
houghtprocesses
hat
operate
hrough
principles
of
similarity
or
analogy,
and
contagion
(and ts inverse,avoidancebehavior).Whilemag-
ical beliefs are
irrational rom the
perspective
of
Western
scientific
logic
and
causality,
in other
words,
they
are
understandable
s
products
of
the
evolution
and
operation
of human
mental
processes,
and
hey
are,
or this
reason,
very
attrac-
tiveto all
people.
"Theres
nothingmagical
n
sym-
pathetic
hinking
as
such";
Pyysiainen
2004:104)
then
observes,
"it
s
just
avoidancebehavior
gone
wild."
The natural
ppeal
of
"magical
hinking,"
n
this sense, explains why contemporaryWestern
athleteswill
consistently
wear the same socks or
shoes on
game day,
in
the
hope
that it will
bring
them
luck,
even while
they may
otherwise be
entirely
rational
hinkers.
Magical
hinking
s thus
a
universal
attribute
f human
cognition,
not the
product
of
"primitive
mentalities."
One
key
implication
of
the
history
of anthro-
pological
research
on this
topic
is the fact
thatnot
all rituals
related o
game
animals
or
other
kinds
of
food-stuffs)
necessarily
nvolve
magic,properly
defined.Reichel-Dolmatoff1967), for example,
discusses
the
supernatural
egotiations
onducted
at
pictograph
sites
by
South
American
Tukano
shamans
with an
important
pirit
known as the
Master
of the
Game.This is
intended o
guarantee
8/16/2019 Sympathetic Magic in Western North American Rock Art
4/25
Keyser
and
Whitley]
SYMPATHETICMAGIC
IN
WESTERN NORTH
AMERICAN ROCK
ART
5
successful
hunts
by
tribalmembersbut t
requires
the
bartering
f human souls for the
animals,
n
order
o maintain cosmicbalance
between ife
and
death.Althoughin this case depictionsof game
and the desire
for
hunting
success are
linked,
the
art
does not involve
sympathetichuntingmagic.
Instead,
it
represents
a
religious
ritual that is
directed,
ike
many
such
ceremonies,
o the well-
being
of
the tribal
group
as a whole. Shamanistic
rock artthen
may
be directed
at one level at sub-
sistence
(just
as some
totemic
rock art
originates
in increase
ituals;
ee
Lay
on
1992),
but
this need
not involve
magic.
Sympathetic
Magic
and Rock
Art
Sympathetic
unting
magic
has
ong
been
proposed
as an
explanation
or
rock art
(e.g.,
Breuil
1952;
Grant
1968;
Heizer and
Baumhoff
1962;
Kehoe
1990,
1996;Nissen
1994;Reinach
903).
Although
very
widely applied
from the
20,000-year-old
"falling
horse"
painted
n Lascaux
to
images
of
game
impaled
by
arrows
drawn
n western
North
America
during
he
ast 500
years
it was
(at
best)
very loosely defined,if in fact definedat all, in
terms
of
specific
religious
beliefs
and ritual
prac-
tices.
Indeed,
anthropological
iscussions
of
magic
in
general
terms
and
sympathetic
huntingmagic
specifically,
nd
heir
mplications,
ave
effectively
been
ignored
by
archaeologists.
The result
was an
interpretation
ased
more
on
vague
ideas about
putative
rimitive
mentalities
han
anthropological
fact,
because
regardless
f
any
empirical
vidence
that
archaeologists
cited
in its
favor,
the basic
assumptionstill was thatany shamanisticritual
concern
with
subsistence
ecessarily
nvolved
ym-
pathetic
magic.
Although
hunting
magic
interpretations
ni-
mated
ock
art esearch
orthe
first
halfof
thetwen-
tieth
century,
they
reached
a state
of
empirical
implausibility
y
the
1960s.
Particularly
xemplary
here
are he
works
of
Heizerand
Baumhoff
1959,
1962),
whose
thesis
implied
that
even
non-
representational
eometric
motifs
were
created
or
purposes
of
sympathetic
magic,
and
Grant,
who
wentso faras to claimthat:"Wherever aturalis-
tic animal
rock
pictures
are
found,
t is almost
cer-
tain
hey
were
made
as
hunting
magic
orto
increase
the
supply
of
game"
1967:32).
Critical
analyses
of
the
hunting
magic
nterpre-
tation
began
to
appear,
worldwide,
shortly
here-
after
e.g.,
Bahn
199
1
ClottesandLewis-
Williams
1998;
Leroi-Gourhan
967;
Lewis-Williams
1974,
1981, 1983;Mundy1981;Rector1985;Ucko and
Rosenfeld
1967;
Whitley
1982a, 1994a,
1998b).
These
pointed
to
ethnographic
data
denying any
direct connection
between rock art and
hunting
magic,
meanwhile
upporting
lternative
nterpre-
tations
or the
origin
andfunctionof the art.
They
also foundbetter-fit
xplanations
or motif assem-
blages
and individual
panels
in
other
explanatory
models.And
they
notedthe failure o find
support
for the
implications
of the
theory
in
the wider
archaeological ecord,such as faunal collections
recovered rom associated
deposits
hatmimicked
the
frequency
of animals
portrayed
n
the rock art.
Given the
lack of
independent upport
or most
hunting
magic
proposals,
ritics
rightfully
ssailed
the
hypothesis
as
reducing
hunter-gatherereligion
and
symbolism
o little more than
subsistence a
position
hat
lies in the face of
any
understanding
of
comparative
religion,
or
of
the known com-
plexity
of
hunter-gatherer
ymbolic systems.
The
hunting
magic hypothesis
was
effectively
discreditedas a resultof thiscriticism,especially
in western
Europe,
southern
Africa,
and western
North
America.One
result
of the relaxation
f the
intellectual
tranglehold
t had
held over
rock art
interpretation
s a
developing
appreciation
f the
range
of
potential
rigins
or,
and unctions
f,
rock
art,
especially
in
western
North America.
This
appreciation
has
resulted
from
ethnographic
research
e.g.,
Francis
and Loendorf
2002;
Hann
et
al.
2005;
Keyser
1987;
Keyser
andKlassen2001
;
Keyser
et al.
2002;
Michaelis
1981;
Schaafsma
1981;
Sundstrom
2002;
Whitley
1982b, 1992,
1994a, 1998a,
2000);
careful
ethnographic
nalo-
gies
(e.g., Boyd
2003;
Hays-Gilpin
2005);
and
structural
nalyses
of rock art
data,
per
se
(e.g.,
Keyser
and
Klassen2001 74-91
;
Sundstrom
989).
These
studies
ndicate
hat western
North
Ameri-
can
rock art
was created
during
vision
questing
by
shamans
and
non-shamans,
by
both
men and
women
during
group
and ndividual
puberty
niti-
ations,
and
to commemorate
ritual
pilgrimages.
Furthermore,tmayportrayupernaturalpiritsor
incidents,
mythic
actors
or
events,
clan
symbols,
and he
acquisition
r documentation
f individual
or
group
status
to cite
just
some
of the identified
possibilities.
8/16/2019 Sympathetic Magic in Western North American Rock Art
5/25
8/16/2019 Sympathetic Magic in Western North American Rock Art
6/25
Keyser
and
Whitley]
SYMPATHETIC
MAGIC
IN
WESTERN
NORTH
AMERICAN
ROCK ART
7
Figure
1. Western North
America,
showing
locations and tribal
groups
referred to
in
text.
1,
Thompson ('Nlaka'pamux);
2, Lillooet; 3,
Similkameen
Valley;
4,
Okanogan;
5,
Sanpoil/Nespelem;
6, Kutenai;
7,
Coeur
d'Alene; 8,
Flathead/Pend
Oreille; 9,
Hells
Canyon;
10,
Lower
Columbia
River;
11,
Klamath
Basin; 12, Yokuts;
13,
Coso
Range;
14, Gabrielino; 15,
Mojave;
16,
Yavapai;
17,
Crow.
The thirdand
perhaps
most dramatic
xample
of
sympathetic
magic
was collected
from the
Gabrielino,
rom the Los
Angeles
basin,
also
by
John
Peabody
Harrington.
ccording
o his infor-
mant:
Long
ago,
before here
werewhite
people
here,
a wizard
[i.e.,
bewitching
shaman]
at San
Gabriel
aused
greatdrought
nd amine hat
lasted
or ive
years.
Maria's
randfather
ste-
van
and
his wife ived
hrough
his
period.
This
sorcererhad a tablet or stone on
which he
painted
many figures
of men and
women
bleeding
rom hemouth nd
alling
down.
He
took this out and
exposed
t to the
sun,
pray-
ing forsickness.For fiveyearstherewas no
rain,
and
many
people
died of
hunger.
. .
Finally
omeothermen
spied
on theman
who
was
causing
all
this and saw
him
going
into
the hills. . .
.
They
followed the tracksand
8/16/2019 Sympathetic Magic in Western North American Rock Art
7/25
8
AMERICAN
ANTIQUITY
[Vol.
71
,
No. 1 2006
Figure
2.
An
example
of
sorcery
rock
art,
one human
shooting
another,
from the Yokuts site of
Rocky
Hill,
California.
The
top
of the
figure
on the
right
was defaced
prehistorically
or
historically
the
only example
of such
at the site
pre-
sumably
because of the nature of this
pictograph.
This
image represents
a full
rock art
panel.
found he ablet r
whatever
t
was
with heevil
figures
n
it,
and
hey
threw t into
the
water.
Then
he
drought
ndedand t rained
Black-
burn
1975:276].
This account ncludesa
number
of references hat
are
easily
understoodn culturalcontext but
that,
otherwise,
may
appear
obtuse.
Mention, first,
of
drawings
f
people
"bleeding
romthe mouthand
falling
down"
describes individualsthrown
nto
trance
most
ikely
fromsoul
theft,
a common orm
of
bewitchment;
ee
Whitley
1994a,
2000).
Expos-
ing
the
pictograph
o the
sun,
the
source of
all
power,
s a reference
o
enhancing
ts
supernatural
potency.
And the nullification
of its evil
effects
through
mmersion efers o the
widespread
elief
in the
cleansingpower
of water
(Applegate
1978;
Blackburn
1975).
Inthis
example
a
painted
ablet
was created
to cause sickness
and
drought.
This
misfortunewas
not reversed
until its cause
the
painted
tablet was itself
cleansed
by physical
action.
8/16/2019 Sympathetic Magic in Western North American Rock Art
8/25
Keyser
and
Whitley]
SYMPATHETIC
MAGIC
IN
WESTERN
NORTH AMERICAN ROCK ART
9
Art
possibly ncluding
ock
art)
was created or
purposes
of
sorcery-related ympathetic magic
beyond
California
and the Great
Basin,
as illus-
tratedby CrowethnographyLowie 1922).Some
Crowshamansdrewhuman
or animal
mages
that
they
then
ritually
defaced to
kill or
incapacitate
enemies or rivalshamans
Lowie 1922:344-346).
Lowie's informants
eported
everal nstances
of sorcerer's
ympatheticmagic.
Among
them are
the
following:
Big
Ox
got angry.
He drewa human
mage
on
the
ground,
made
a
hole in the
heart,
blew
smokeon
it,
and
effaced
he
picture
fter
ay-
ing,
"You
hallbe the
poorest
reaturen
earth,
finallyyou
shallbe blindandhave o crawlon
your
handsandfeet."This came true
[Lowie
1922:345].
One Crow
says
that he
picture
of the
enemy
is sometimes
rawn eara river
bank,
with he
headnearesthe
water,
whereupon
hesorcerer
smokes
towards t and burns ncense.
The
water
omesto wash he
mageaway,
and he
sooner t does so, the sooner hevictimwill
die.
Anothernformant
ays
hat
a rockor
baxe
weed
was
placed
on the
picture
and n order
to blind
his
enemy
he
shamanwould
put
ashes
or charcoal
n the
eye
of his
image.
[Lowie
1922:345].
Dung-face
ashaman]
. .went nto
his tent
and
badehis brother
ring
anold buffalo kull.On
the forehead
he drew horse tracks
and
announced
hat these were
the tracksof the
horsesstolen
by
[his
rival]
Jackrabbit...
He
told his brother
o takethe
headandthrow t
into the
water,
aying
"these
areJackrabbit's
horses."
ung-face
aid,
"Then ackrabbit
ill
nothave
any
horses." .
. The
Enemy
ameand
stole all of
Jackrabbit's
horses
[Lowie
1922:346].
The motifs created
during orcery
animal
racks
andhuman
igures
are
a
staple
of rock
art n
Crow
territorysee Keyserand Klassen2001), suggest-
ing
that
some such
designs
may
well have been
shaman/sorcerer's
mages,
even
if
no
directethno-
graphic
accounts
specifically
involving
rock art
have
yet
been identified.
In each of
these
ethnographic
ases the
impli-
cation is
that the motifs
have a
materiality
hat,
through
itual
manipulation
r
defacement,
ould
be harnessed o visit misfortuneontoothers.The
motifs
n
this sense
arenot
depictions
of natural
r
even
supernatural
ventsbut instead
were
thought
to be true
objects,
with
the
manipulation
f
these
material
objects
mplicated
as the
physical
causes
for
these
actions,
and their
consequences.
Even
in
some
regions
where there s no
evidence of hunt-
ing magic
rock
art,
sympathetic
magic
was an
important art
of native
religious practice,
and a
component
of some rock art.
Hunting Magic
The
ColumbiaPlateauhas a
particularly
ich
rock
art
record.It is notableboth for
the total
number
and
widespread
distribution f
sites,
as well as for
the
important
oncentrationsound
along
the
mid-
dle and lower
Columbia
River,
n
Hell's
Canyon,
in the
Klamath
Basin,
and n the
SimilkameenVal-
ley
of
south-central British
Columbia
(Keyser
1992).
Compositionsapparently howing
hunting
are common in the region's art (Corner 1968;
Keyser
1992, 1994;
Keyser
and
Knight
1976),
occurring hroughout
he areaas the
second
most
frequent ype
of
composition.Only
he
vision
quest
composition,showing
a human
igure
uxtaposed
with
a
rayed
arc,
an
animal,
or a
geometric igure,
is more
prevalent
see
Keyser
1992:45-^48,
1-62,
79-80;
Keyser
et al.
1998:22,
48, 56-57;
Keyser
et
al.
2004:38-42, 72-73,
for
description
nd
discus-
sion of
example
compositions).
Many
of these
hunting
cenes
appear
as elabo-
rate
compositionsnvolving
what
appear
o be drive
lane fences and/or
people
and
dogs
channeling
quarry
nimals o
waiting
hunters
Figure
3).
Oth-
ers
(Figure
4)
are
simplerdrawings howing
ani-
mals
pierced
with a
spear
or
arrow
or
caught
n
a
corral r
snare;
rhunters
sing
spear,
tlatl,
orbow
and
arrow o shoot
elk, deer,
mountain
heep,
bison,
and
even
a
sturgeon.
Such
hunting magesrange
n
age
fromthe lateArchaic
hrough
he LatePrehis-
toric
period, hough
mostdatewithin he ast 1
500
years (Keyser1992;Keyseret al.2004).Hunting-
relatedart ncludesboth
painted
and
pecked
exam-
ples.
Occasional
scenes are drawn
as isolated
panels,
butmore
commonly
hunting ompositions
are oundat sites
containing
ther ockart
magery
8/16/2019 Sympathetic Magic in Western North American Rock Art
9/25
1
0 AMERICAN
ANTIQUITY
[Vol.
71
,
No.
1 2006
Figure
3.
Communal
hunting
scenes occur
frequently
in
Columbia
Plateau rock art. These show a hunter
accompanied
by dogs
(with
tail arched
up
over the
back)
and other
people
acting
as "drivers."
Note the drive lane fence shown
in
b,
and the
woman
working
as a "driver" n a.
Both
a
and b are
full
rock art
panels.
that was
apparently roduced
as
vision
quest
art
(Keyser
1992;
Keyser
et
al.
2004,
2005).
All of
the
species
n
these
hunting
cenesare
significant
ame
animals
or
Columbia
Plateau
ribes,
and he detail
and
intricacy
of
many
of these
compositions
has
led authors o arguethatthey representhunting
magic
rock art
(e.g.,
Corner
1968;
Keyser
1989,
1992,
1994).
Contrasting
with
many
other
regions
of the
world,
where no
support
or
hunting
magic
has
been
found,
he Plateau
thnographic
ecord n fact
provides
support
or
this
interpretation
n
several
forms
and from a
variety
of
tribal
groups.
This
starts
with direct
evidence
for
hunting
magic.
Although
his
does not
immediately
ink the
prac-
tice to the
art,
substantial dditional
vidence
inks
the acquisitionof hunting powers to the vision
quest,
hamanistic ream
xperiences,
ndrock
art.
In
short,
hunting
magic
appears
o have
been one
of
the
potential
powers
obtained n
visions
by
both
shamans
and
puberty
nitiates,
and such
visions
could re-occur
throughout
an individual's life
(Hann
t al.
2005;
Keyser
1992;
Keyser
t al.
1998;
Yorket al.
1993).
Directevidence
or
sympathetic
untingmagic
was obtained from the
Sanpoil
and
Nespelem,
whose hunt leaders made "enclosures" f small
stakes
on the adviceof their
powerful
deer
guardian
spirits.
These
enclosures
were
thought
o
hold the
deer
by
magic
so that
many
could be
killed
(Ray
1939:78-79).
That his
magicalpractice
was con-
ducted
following
the
suggestions
of
their
spirit
helpers
demonstrateshe
connection
etweenhunt-
ing magic power
andthe vision
quest,
since it was
precisely
during
he
vision
quest
thata
supplicant
communed
with their
spirit
helper
and
might
receive such
instructions.
Indeed,the importanceof obtaininghunting
power
during
the vision
quest
is illustrated in
numerous
ways,
providing
ubstantialndirect
up-
port
for
huntingmagic. Among
the
Lillooet,
for
example,
a
young
manon a vision
quest
madesmall
8/16/2019 Sympathetic Magic in Western North American Rock Art
10/25
Keyser
and
Whitley]
SYMPATHETICMAGIC
IN
WESTERN NORTH AMERICAN
ROCK
ART
1 1
Figure
4. Individual
hunting
scenes,
often
showing
elk or
deer,
are
quite
common
in
Columbia Plateau rock art. All
of
these scenes
are
petroglyphs.
The
lower,
more
lightly pecked,
bowman added to the
original composition
in
a,
suggests
that
these
images
were
reused to refresh or
reacquire power.
deer
igures
of barkor
grass5
ndshot at themwith
a bow and arrows
praying
hathe
might
becomean
expert
rcher.
If
he
made
many
hits,
he wouldbecome
a suc-
cessful
hunter.
Afterwards e
suspended
he
figures,
with the arrows
n
them,
from the
branch
f some
firtree
[Teit1906:266].
This
appears
o
be a reference
o
sympathetic
magic
("what
do to the
miniature
deer
I
will
do later
n
life to real
deer"),
ut
t is
in
relation
o
general
hunt-
ingpower
rather
hana
specifichuntingepisode.
We
also see
examples
of
hunters'
"magical
thinking"
ssociated
withrock
art ites.
Among
the
Thompson,
Teit
(1930:344)
notes thatwhen
pass-
ing
by places
associated
with
the "Land
Myster-
ies"
(which
frequently
had
associated
rock
art)
hunters
made
small
offerings
of various
items
including
hotand
gunpowder,
thus
nsuring
ood
weather
uring
heir
tay,
and
good
uck
whilehunt-
ing."
Almosta
century
ater
Annie
York erified
hat
such
offerings
were
ypically
eft at
pictograph
ites
(York t al.1993:83).Certainly fferings rewidely
known
o havebeen
placed
at rockart
sites,
but his
reference
s
specific
o
hunters,
heir
weaponry,
nd
their
uck,
providing
urther
eneral
upport
orthe
plausibility
of
huntingmagic.
Furthermore,
n the
Columbia
Plateau,
unlike
in
other
regions
of the
far
west,
there
was
no tabu
againstkilling
[or
eating]
one's
guardian
nimal.On the
contrary,
he animal
expected
o be killed.
A
manwithdeer
power
was
always
good
hunter,
ordeerwould ome
to
him
o be
killed.
When.
.one's
guardian
as
killed
t was
customary
o
keep
some
part
o
insure
success on
subsequent
entures
Ray
1939:188].
For the
Sanpoil, Nespelem, Kutenai,
and
Okanogan,
deer and otheranimals
gave power
to
the hunter
precisely
so he could
kill
them
(Cline
1938:134;
Malouf and White
1952),
and "hunt
leaders
always
had
guardian pirits
which
aided
them in
hunting,
such as
deer or
antelope"
Ray
1939:78).
The hunt leader
exercisedcontrolover
theextensive
preparations
ora successful
hunt,
and
"often
[he]
was
helped
by
his
guardian pirit.
.
[who]
appeared
n a dreamand told
him how
he
could urn he
uckof the
party"Ray
1939:78-79).6
Teit (1906:279) indicatesfurther hatamongthe
Lillooet "customs
ntended o
propitiate
animals
were numerous."
One
of the earliest references
to
Columbia
Plateau
unting
dreams s documented
y
theanno-
8/16/2019 Sympathetic Magic in Western North American Rock Art
11/25
8/16/2019 Sympathetic Magic in Western North American Rock Art
12/25
Keyser
and
Whitley]
SYMPATHETICMAGIC
IN
WESTERN
NORTH
AMERICAN ROCK
ART
13
Figure
6.
Painting by
Fr. Nicolas
Point, 1844,
showing
the "Consecration
of the
weapons
before
departing
for the
hunt."
In the
rear
center,
note the
stag
with the cross between
his antlers
the Roman Catholic
symbol
for
St.
Hubert,
patron
saint of hunters.
Image
IXRMSC9-82
courtesy
of Midwest
Jesuit
Archives,
St. Louis.
These scholars' observationsare
further
sup-
ported by
Point's artistic
symbolism.
In
Point's
composition,
he deer
painted
"center
tage"
at
the
fully
lighted
meadow's
edge
-
is the most
clearlydepicted mage,
and he
only
one who stands
in
thebeamsof
lightprojecting
ownwardrom
he
sun
up
in
the heavens. Point
routinely
used such
symbolism
e.g., light
beams,
central
position)
to
emphasize
hemost sacred
aspect
of
his
religiously
oriented
paintings
(see
Peterson
1993:93,
104-108).
The
importance
f th6 deer as the mediator
of
hunting power
is underscored
by
anotherPoint
painting Figure
6),
which shows Salish
(Flathead
and
Pend
Oreille)
men
having
their
weapons
blessed before the annualbuffalo
hunt a
long,
dangerous
xpedition
across
he
Rocky
Mountains
out
ontothe Plains
erritory
f theirBlackfeet
ene-
mies.
In
this
painting
he hunters
equest
he
pro-
tection and blessing of Saints Michael (for
warriors),
Raphael
for travelers),
nd Hubert
for
hunters).
The focus of the
depiction
s a
stag
with
a cross
between its antlers
the
Catholic
symbol
of
St.
Hubert,
patron
of hunters.
Point notes that
the Salish
specifically
chose St.
Hubertbecause
he
fit
their own
conceptions.
That his
symbol
a
deer
was
adopted
by
the Salish
to
represent
heir
hunters'
power
says
as much
about
he
symbolism
of their
native
religion
as it does
about
he
Jesuits'
efforts to substitute
Catholic
teachings
for
native
beliefs.7
The
directconnection
between
huntingpower
visions
and rock art
is
providedby
Teit
(1930),
Cline
(1938),
and
York
(York
et al.
1993).
One
painted
scene
in
Okanogan
ountry,
or
example,
was identified
by
Teit's
nformants
Teit
1930:286)
as a corralwith a
manandhis
guardian
pirit
nside
it and
game
animals
coming
to
the entrance.
The
symbolism
of
a hunt leader
and his
helper
uring
game
is
striking Figure
7f).
Annie York
(York
et al.
1993:70-71, 124,
160-161,
186-189),
a
Thompson
CNlaka'pamux)
elder,
corroborates
eit's
nformant
whenshe
iden-
tifiesbothanimalsn snares orcorrals) ndadepic-
tion of
a drive ane fence
with associated
animals.
Initially,
she
describes
a
pictograph
York
et al.
1993:Fig.
86,
page
124)
as
"The two
deer
in the
circle
is the snare
they
used
thatsnare
o catch
8/16/2019 Sympathetic Magic in Western North American Rock Art
13/25
1 4
AMERICAN
ANTIQUITY
[Vol.
71
,
No.
1
2006
Figure
7.
These
images, pictographs
from the
rock
art of southern British
Columbia,
have all been
ethnographically
den-
tified as
hunting imagery.
They
show a
progression
from
speared
animals,
to a
spirit being spearing
or
"corralling"
ani-
mals beneath
its
wings,
to animals
in
corrals. Note the
spirit helper
bird
in
f.
them"
York
et al.
1993:124).
Later,
he
says
of a
similar
depiction:
Deer
and
goat,
he
hings
hat
he
hunterwants.
The
deer and
goat
are
[caught]8
n
a snare.
That's he
way you
write t. It
shows he has
caught
hem
n
hismind
York
t al.
1
993
16 1
Both
of these
images
are
quite
similar
tructurally
to
that
dentified
by
Teit's
nformants
cf.
Figures
7d
and
e).
Other
aintings
York
tal.
1993:Fig.
104,
pages
156-157) are said to show a distinctivehunter's
power
igure
York
t al.
1993:
171)
both
n
the act
of
spearing
nanimal
Figure
b)
and
"keeping
the
animals]
in
place"
(York
et al.
1993:151-157,
164)
in
other
words,
controlling
or
capturing
them
Figure
c).
Speaking
f
this
igure,
he
claims
that:
the
wings
of
thishunter
reature..
capture
he
animal n
the
dreamer's
mind,
and
ater]
This
man
changes
himself nto
anowl
[the
hunter's
spirithelper]when he dreamsand he flies
around nd
notices he
deerand
goats
andani-
malshe
wants.
. .Youcan
send hat
power
o
find
your
deer or
you
[York
t
al.
1993:156,
164].
At another ite
showing
a
deer
snareabovea stick-
figure
manwith
closely
associated
quadruped,
he
states:
Thathunter ould
easily speak
o an
animal.
When
you
are
rained[,]
he
animal[s]
on't
un
away
rom
you.
That's
why
that
picture
s like
that.The
animals
re
very
close to them
York
etal.
1993:70].
Later,
he describes mountain
oat
witha
line
pro-
jecting upward
rom ts back as a
speared
animal:
Beside t
[a
sceneof four
animals]
s the
goat
that the dreamerhas
speared
[York
et al.
1993:163].
And
finally,
she
describesa
therianthropicigure
with
human
head,
body,
andhandsbutdeerantlers
and
hooves as Deer Man:
When
you
dream
hat,
ougoing
o be a hunter.
The
power
of
shemitz,
Deer
Man,
s
strong
This[artistesponsibleorpaintinghispicto-
graph]
wouldbe a
young
hunter
oing up
in
thatStein
valley,
andhe'ddreamt in there
This s the
story
of
a
dream f
hunting
ower
[York
tal.
1993:91-92].
8/16/2019 Sympathetic Magic in Western North American Rock Art
14/25
Keyser
and
Whitley]
SYMPATHETICMAGIC
IN
WESTERN
NORTH AMERICAN
ROCK
ART
1
5
Table 1.
ColumbiaPlateau
Ethnographic
Evidence for
Hunting
Power and
HuntingMagic.
Hunting
Power
Hunting
Power
Sympathetic
Associated with
Associated with
Hunting
Hunting
TribalGroup Vision Quest Rock Art Luck Magic
Lillooet
X
(1)
X
(1)*
Sanpoil/Nespelem
X
(2)
X
(2)
Thompson
X
(4)
X
(3, 4)
X
(3)
?
(4)
Coeur
d'Alene X
(5, 6)
X
(6)
Flathead
X
(5)
Okanogan
X
(3,
7)
General
X
(2)
X
(2)
*
The
sympathetic
magic
in
this case concerns
general hunting
prowess
rather han
specific
hunting rips.
(1)
Teit
1906;
(2)
Ray
1939;
(3)
Teit
1930;
(4)
Yorket al.
1993;
(5)
Peterson
1993;
(6)
Palmer
1998;
(7)
Cline
1938.
Somewhat
arlier,
Cline
had
confirmed he fact
thatmen
painted
ock art
mages
of their
guardian
spirit
as a
way
to announce heir
power
which
included oth
hunting
ndwar
power stating
hat:
Whenone
had
performed
ome
special
eat,
as in
hunting
or
war,
he
might
declare
his
power
o thosewho hadwitnessed
he
deedor
benefited
y
it
[Cline
1938:136].
As is obvious
rom he
foregoing,
n
theColum-
bia Plateauthere is ethnographic, thnohistoric,
androck artevidence
all
pointing
owardan asso-
ciation
between
game
animal
guardians
ndhunt-
ing power,
along
with dreams
involving
these
guardians
Table
1).
Throughout
he
region
there
is an absence
of
any
taboo
against
killing
or
eating
one's
guardian,
nd,
n
fact,
a
number
f references
indicate
hatdeer or
antelopeguardians ppeared
in visions
o offer
hunting ower.
Moreover,
unters
and hunt
shamans
performedpropitiatory
ituals
both
to ensureand
commemorate
unting
uccess.
And
informants rom
two different thnic
groups,
and
from three
different
generations
panning
he
last
century,9
dentified
ock art
mages
as
hunting
power
or indicated
hat such
images
were made.
These varied
eferences
provide
a
compelling
web
of
evidence,
whichdemonstrates
hatat
least some
Columbia
Plateaurock
art was
linked to
hunting
concerns
and
practices.
Further,
here s at eastone
ethnographic
account
of
sympathetic
hunting
magic,
raising
he
possibility
hatsome
of the rock
art tselfmayhavebeenmade nhuntingmagicrit-
uals.
Unlike
the
case for
sympathetic
magic
related
to
sorcery
n
California,
he Great
Basin,
and the
Plains,
he
ethnographic
eferences
elating
Colum-
bia
Plateaurock art
directly
o
huntingmagic
are
ambiguous.
While
they
demonstrate hat
hunting
power
was often
obtained roma
spirit
helper
dur-
ing
the vision
quest,
none
specifically
states that
the art
was made to aid a
particular
unting
rip;
that
is,
as a
magical
act.
General
huntingpower,
after
all,
is not
hunting
magic,
but instead s
more
akin o thevarious
kinds
of
potencies
hat,
hrough-
out the far
west,
shamans ndother
vision
questers
might
obtain,
ncluding
the
power
to
heal,
make
rain,
find lost
objects,
win
at
gambling
or
guaran-
tee a long life. Still, four facts andcircumstances
cause us to
propose
that at least some
Columbia
Plateau rock art
probably
resulted
from
sympa-
thetic
huntingmagic.
The first s the clear
mportance
f
subsistence
concerns
n
Plateaurock
art,
as
expressedby
the
above-described
mportance
f
acquiring
hunting
powers,
combinedwith the documented
xistence
of
sympathetic hunting
magic
among
the San-
poil/Nespelem Ray
1939:78-79,
detailed
above).
This
provides
a relevant ontextwithin which the
potential
mportance
f
sympathetic
magic
s obvi-
ous.
Second,
that
art
was created or
purposes
of
(sorcery-related)ympatheticmagic
n
three
neigh-
boring
culture areas
(California,
Great
Basin,
Plains)
ncreases he
plausibility
hat
sympathetic
huntingmagic
rock art
may
have been
painted
or
engraved
on the
Plateau.
Third,
evidence for
huntingmagic
relatedart
also occurs n the
neighboring
Plainscultural rea.
Some Crow
shamansdrewbuffalo racksand
per-
formedmagicritualson them that were intended
to
lure
bison close to hunters in
times of
need
(Lowie 1922:356-357).
The
examples
cited
by
Lowie
were drawn
on the
tipi
floor
(or
on a bison
skull)
but rock art
in
Crow
country(Keyser
and
8/16/2019 Sympathetic Magic in Western North American Rock Art
15/25
1
6
AMERICAN ANTIQUITY
[Vol.
71
,
No.
1
2006
Figure
8. British
Columbia
pictographs showing
what
appear
to be
examples
of
hunting magic,
(a)
Washout Creek
#2;
(b)
Braeside;
(c)
Seton Creek.
In
a the
sturgeon
at
top right
is
shown
with
exaggerated
dorsal shield scales.
In
b,
Corner
(1968:68)
recognizes
several mountain
sheep
above
the man in
center as
being
the
product
of a different artist
than are
other
animals
both
above and below. Note than animals in
groups
do
not
form herds because
they
(1)
include
different
species, (2)
face
differentdirections,and/or (3) are painted with different orientationsto an assumed ground
line. These
factors
suggest
that the animals are not
herds,
but are
clusters
composed
of individual animals
or small
groups, painted
at different times. All
illustrations
adopted
from
Corner
(1968:38, 69,
92).
Klassen
2001:
176)
has
several ites withbison and
deer tracks
that
may represent
his
same
activity
conductedas rock art.
Fourth,
and
perhaps
most
importantly,
we
believe
here s a
possible
archaeological
est
mpli-
cation or the
creationof
huntingmagic
rock
art.10
Unlike
sorcery,
which
might
be a rareor unusual
event, huntingis obviously common. It follows
then
that,
f
hunting
relatedrock art derived
rom
individualacts of
huntingmagic
as
opposed
sim-
ply
to the
acquisition
of
hunting powers,
it
too
should be
common.
Hunting
magic
rock artthen
should
nclude
multipleexamples
of
game,
killed
game,
and
hunting
cenes
at
specific
sites and
pan-
els,
including
motifsthat
appear
o be the same
age
and
that,
intuitively
at
least,
appear
o
have
been
created
by
the same
artist.11
untingpower
vision-
ary
art,
n
contrast,
would
ogically
consistof indi-
vidual motifs or
scenes,
rather
han
repeated
acts
creatingdenticalart,conductedat the same loca-
tion.
A
review of the
published
ColumbiaPlateau
rockart
iterature
rovides
everal
key examples
of
panels
and sites
(Figure
8)
that meet the
expecta-
8/16/2019 Sympathetic Magic in Western North American Rock Art
16/25
Keyser
and
Whitley]
SYMPATHETICMAGIC
IN
WESTERN
NORTH AMERICAN
ROCK
ART
1
7
Table 2. ColumbiaPlateauRock
Art Sites
Illustrating
Potential
Hunting
Magic.
Pierced
Multiple
Hunting
Power
"Killed"
Tribal
Site
Animals
Examples*
Imagery
Position
Territory
EbRk-7 1 1 (3) Thompson
Seton Creek
5
4(2-5)
1**
Thompson
Deer
Corral
1
(5)
1
Okanogan
PierreJohn
1
1
(3)
Okanogan
Dunrobin 1
(5)
Okanogan
Braeside(DlQv-16)
4
6(2-3)
Okanogan
Tye
1 1
(3)
Kutenai
WashoutCreek
#2 1
(4)***
Kutenai
Pavillion Lake
#2
2
(2-5)
Thompson
*
The number
on the left
is
the numberof
subjectively
dentifiedartists
(not
the
numberof human
igures),
while
the sec-
ond number
in
parentheses)
otals
the
number
of different
animals or
groups
of
animals associated
with each artist.
**
This
is
one of
the
speared
animals.
***
The preyhere aresturgeon.
EbRk-7
from
Yorket al
1993,
all others
from
Corner 1968.
tionsof
huntingmagic
acts
as
opposed
o the
acqui-
sition of
hunting powers
during
a vision
quest
(Table
2).
Perhaps
not
coincidentally,
the
great
majority
f these
panels
are located
n
the
aborig-
inal
erritory
f
the
Lillooet,
Thompson,Okanogan,
and
Sanpoil/Nespelem
exactly
hose
groups
with
the
strongest
thnography elating
he vision
quest
and
rock art o
huntingpower.
In
southern
British
Columbiahereare five sites thatshow killed ani-
mals
on
individual
panels.
These are animals
impaled
by spears
or arrows
n
exactly
the sort of
symbolism
that Teit
(1906:250)
reported
o have
been
generally
ecognized
as an indicator
f hunt-
ing
success:
If
a stick
were stuck
n the
[miniature
rass]
figure
of
a
deer],
t meant he animal
t
repre-
sented
had been killed.
If
[numerous]
ticks
were tuck
n the
miniature
igures
it meant
so
many
of
theseanimals
hadbeenkilled.
Some
of theseanimals
are
killed
by
one
weapon
but
have additional
weapons
added o
"kill" hem
again
and
again
Figure
8c).
One mountain
oat
(a
species
frequently
hown
huntedat
pictographs
n
the
mountainous
region
of west-central
British
Columbia)
s
pierced
rombehind
with one
arrow,
shot
from
abovewith
an elaborate
bow and
arrow,
andshot
again
witha
second,
adjacent,
lmost
den-
ticallyelaborated ow andarrow.Theelaborately
detailed
bow
andarrow
depictions
how a
stylistic
signature
hat
strongly uggests
they
were
painted
by
thesame
artist.
Finally,
earby
s a second
moun-
tain
goat
painted
facing
a different
direction
but
which s also
killed
by
an
arrow.Both the
goat
and
the arrowshow a
stylistic signature
hat
strongly
suggests
his
composition
was
paintedby
the same
artist hat
painted
he
thrice-killed
xample.
The
similarities
etween hetwo
goats
and he
weapons
usedto kill them
are
exactly
whatone would
expect
from one
person's
ritualreuse
of this site and its
images
to
practicehuntingmagic.
Nine sites showrepeated ccurrences f groups
of
one to four animals
being pursued
or
actually
killed
by
a hunter.These
compositions
show the
animals
pierced
with
spears
or arrowsor
arrayed
with humans
n
explicit hunting
scenes. Based on
subjective tylistic
criteria,
successfulhunterwill
often have as
many
as threeassociated ndividuals
or
groups
of animals.
Probably
the best site is
named Braeside
(Corner
1968:68-69),
where at
least six differenthunterseach
painted
multiple
animals
(Figure8b).
Corner
(1968:68-69)
also
noted
the
stylisticsignatures
hat
differentiate ar-
ious
groups
of animalsand huntershere.Another
site shows a
spearfisherman
n
two
different
om-
positions
(almost
certainly
he same man as indi-
cated
by
both
body style
and
distinctive
headdress)
killingsturgeon,
nd
wo
other
turgeon
nda
long-
bodied otter-likeanimal
(all
apparently
rawn n
the same
hand)
have been
grouped
betweenthese
two scenes.
An insect
form,which,
ike the "otter"
is
probably
a
spirithelper,
s
painted
at the
upper
left. Corner(1968:92-93) notes that all of the
images
on this
panel
are
stylistically
denticaland
we
concur hat
hey represent
he handof a
single
artist.
In
summary,
hereare severalsites
in
southern
8/16/2019 Sympathetic Magic in Western North American Rock Art
17/25
1
8
AMERICAN
ANTIQUITY
[Vol.
71
,
No.
1
2006
British Columbiawith obvious
hunting magery
composed
of
repeated
ame
animals,
killed
game,
and
hunting
scenes drawn
n
what
appear
o the
styles of several ndividualartists.Each of these
sites s
exactly
whatwe would
expect
o
find f rock
art
was
ritually
reused
to
perform
acts of
hunting
magic.
Other
sites
showing
reuse of
panels
to
paint
or
carve
examples
of killed or huntedanimals
occur
along
the
lower Columbia
River
(Keyser
1994:5,
17;
Keyser
et al
2004:79-80;
Loring
and
Loring
1982:
126-127).12One
f these s
apetroglyph Fig-
ure
4a)
that deserves
special
mention
precisely
because t appearso have been reused.This is an
elk/deer
being
shot
by
a bowman
in
a
typical
Columbia
Plateau
radition
hunting
scene.
But to
this
original omposition
has been addeda
second,
smaller hunter
rekilling
the animal. Differential
varnishing uggests
that
significant
ime
elapsed
between
these two
episodes,
but it
definitely
ndi-
catesritual euseof
the
mage,
and
a
huntingmagic
ritual s a reasonable
xplanation.
The Columbia Plateau
ethnographic
record,
then,
demonstrates
onclusively
that
a
significant
amountof its rock art was related o subsistence
concerns
and
practices
e.g., huntingpower).
We
believe that
here s
quiteplausible
evidence,
even
if
not
proof,
thatsome
of this hunter'sart
does,
in
fact,
document
ympathetic unting
magic.
Hunting
Magic
Or Not?
To
propose,
as
we
do,
that
some
corpora
of rock
art
containing
apparent ame
animalsand hunters
originatedn subsistence-relatedoncerns proba-
bly
includinghunting
magic),
whereasothercor-
pora
with
ostensibly
similar motifs
were not
subsistence-related
aises the
obvious
question:
how can these
two
origins
and
unctionsof rockart
be
inferred?As
with all
archaeological
nterpreta-
tion,
an
assessmentof
multiple
ines of
indepen-
dent
evidence,
allowing
for
"inference
o the best
hypothesis"
Kelley
andHanen
1988),
is the
basis
for
analysis.
This
can
be
illustrated
y
comparing
the
Coso
Range
petroglyphs
f
eastern
California
(Figure9), createdby Numic speakingshamans,
with
a series
of
superficially
imilar
mages
(both
pictographs
nd
petroglyphs)
rom
the
Columbia
Plateau.
The
nference hat he
Coso
corpus
did not
orig-
inate
in
concerns
with
food
generally
or
hunting
magic specifically
starts
with
ethnographic
vi-
dence but
also includes contextual
and
compara-
tive archaeological data, along with the
iconographic
attributes
of the
art. It
requires
an
assessment not
only
of
the evidence
counting
against
he subsistence
ypothesis,
butalso
theevi-
dence
supporting
n alternative
nterpretation.
With
respect
o
ethnography,
ositive
and
neg-
ative
evidence must
be considered.
Direct
ethno-
graphic
data,
thematic
evidence
(in
the form
of
historical
motifs),
and
chronometric
nd
relative
dating
demonstrate
hat Great
Basin rock
art was
madebyNumic- peakingpeoples,and hat t con-
tinued o be made at least
into the
nineteenth en-
tury
(Francis
and Loendorf
2002;
Loendorf
1999;
Whitley
1994a, 1998a,
2000;
Whitley
et al.
1999).
WhileNumic
ethnography
ontains ubstantial
is-
cussion
of shamanistic
hunting
magic practices
(e.g., Kelly
1932;
Park
1938;
Steward
1941;
Stew-
art
1941),
this concerns
antelope
charming,
with
consistent
denial of
any
huntingmagic
related
o
bighorn heep (e.g.,
Steward
1933, 1941,
1943).
Direct
ethnographic
enial
of the
bighorn
hunt-
ing magic, further, s matchedby ethnographic
commentary upporting
n alternative
rigin
and
function
for
the
art,
which involved shamanistic
practicespertaining
o the
acquisition
f a
(usually
animal
n
form)
spirithelper,
unrelated
o
acquir-
ing game.
Moreover,
mong
the Numic therewas
a taboo
against ating
one's
spirithelper
see
Whit-
ley
1992, 1994a, 1998a,
2000).
In
addition to this
ethnographic
evidence,
archaeological
ssociations nd
contexts ail
to
sup-
portthe idea thatthe art relates to hunting.For
example,
Rector
(1979,
1985)
has observedthat
rockart
sites
are
often associatedwith
villages,
not
animal
game
trails,
as HeizerandBaumhoff
1
959,
1962)
originally
claimed.
Christenson
1993)
has
noted
hat he rockartsites ack the associatedarti-
facts
(hunting
ools,
butchery
emains)
hat
might
be
expected
f
the art
originated
n
the
kindof hunt-
ing magic suggestedby
Grant
1968).
Moreover,
Grant
(1968)
argued
that an association existed
betweenthe art
and certain ock
structures,
which
he interpreted as
hunting-related:
blinds and
"dummy
hunters."While it is true that there are
occasionalassociations
betweenrockfeaturesand
rock
art
panels,
two
empirical
acts count
against
their
nterpretation
s
hunting
related,
n addition
8/16/2019 Sympathetic Magic in Western North American Rock Art
18/25
Keyser
and
Whitley]
SYMPATHETIC
MAGIC
IN
WESTERN
NORTH AMERICAN ROCK
ART
1
9
Figure
9.
Images
from
the
Coso
Range
that can be identified as
shamanic,
despite
their
superficial
similarity
to
hunting
imagery,
(a)
Based
in
part
on the
ethnographic
denial of the use of
sheep
horn
hunting disguises
(because
of their
weight),
this so-called "hunter
and
sheep" petroglyph
from
Sheep Canyon
is better seen as a death
metaphor
for the
bighorn
shaman's
entry
into trance,
(b)
The
straight
line
(presumably
an arrow or
spear), bleeding
from the
mouth,
and
upraised
tail
(a
rigor
mortis
posture
for the
bighorn)
all indicate that this
bighorn sheep
from
Big
Petroglyph Canyon
has been
killed. Note, howeverthe distinctly plantigradefeet, suggestingthat this figure is a conflationof a sheep and human, (c)
The internal
body patterning
on this
"patterned-body"bighorn sheep
from Little
Petroglyph Canyon
is similar to
the
kind of
internal
body
designs
on
many
of the human
figures
from the
region, indicating
an
equivalence
between
human
and
sheep.
The
sheep's
non-realistic
nature is further
emphasized by
the
multiple legs,
a, b,
are
complete panels.
to the
absenceof the
expected
artifact ssociations.
First,
many
of these
featuresare oo
poorly
(and
n
some
cases
mpossibly)
ited
o haveserved
as
hunt
related; .e.,
they
aretrue
"blinds"
n
the sense that
they
ack
the viewshed
required
or effective
hunt-
ing.
But
second,
andeven
more
mportantly, y
far
the
largest
concentration
f these featuresoccurs
nowhere
neareither
rock artor
hunting
areas,
but
in the desolate
latsof the
Panamint
Valley. Partly
for
these
reasons,
and
partlyusing analogy
with
substantial
thnographic
ata
on their use on the
Plateau
and northern
Plains,
Whitley
et al.
[2004]
interpret
hese stonefeatures
as vision
quest
struc-
tures
of different
inds.)
Basedon
the massivecon-
centration
of
bighorn petroglyphs
n
the
Cosos,
Grant
(1968)
further
nferred that an
intensive
bighorn
heep
hunting
cult
existed
in
the western
GreatBasin,tiedto huntingmagic.WhileHilde-
brandtand McGuire
2002)
have
emphasized
he
importance
f intensive
big-game
huntingduring
the Middle to
Late
Archaic,
this occurredbefore
the
majority
of
the art was made.
As
Whitley
(1994a)
has
noted,
all of the
chronological
evi-
dence indicates hatthe florescence
of Coso rock
artoccurred
uring
a
period
of diminished
hunting
importance,
ot
during
ts
peak
(cf.
Whitley
et al.
1999).
The third ine of
evidence nvolvesthe
iconog-
raphy
tself.
Figure
9a
showsa
putative
Coso archer
wearing bighorn heephunting
isguise
cf.
Grant
1968).
Ethnographic
vidence
again
discounts his
interpretation,
as the
bighorn sheep
rack was
acknowledged
as too
heavy
to use in this
fashion
(Fowler
1992;
Steward
1941,
1943;
Stewart
1941).
(Note
that,
while
these
ethnographic
ata
specifi-
cally
are
Numic,
heypertain
o
physical
onstraints
that should transcend
ethnographic
or
temporal
context.)
Figure
9b,
in
contrast,
appears
o
depict
a
sheep
who hasbeen
mpaled
witha
spear
r
arrow.
Note here the motif'splantigradeeet rather han
cloven hooves. Both
examples,
in
other
words,
include nonrealisticcombinationsof human
and
sheep
attributes
nd,
n
this
sense,
arebetter nter-
preted
as
conflationarybeings: they
are
neither
8/16/2019 Sympathetic Magic in Western North American Rock Art
19/25
20 AMERICAN
ANTIQUITY
[Vol.
71
,
No.
1 2006
humannor
sheep,
but a combination
f
both.
This
conographic quivalence
between
human
and
sheep,
and the nonrealistic
natureof the cor-
poramoregenerally,are illustratedn additional
ways.
Wellmann
1979),
for
example,
has
noted a
significant
tatistical ssociation etween
he
super-
positioning
of
sheep
and so-called
patterned
ody
anthropomorphs.
hese ast
igures
are
heavily tyl-
ized
humans
who
appear
o
be
attired
n
the
painted
ceremonialshirts that were worn
by
the Numic
shaman
Whitley
1998a,
2000).
As shown
n
Fig-
ure
9c,
in
fact,
someof the
sheeppetroglyphs
hem-
selves are
"patterned-bodied,"
urther
mphasizing
theequivalancebetweenhumanandanimal.More-
over,
the fantastic
ratht
than
realistic)
natureof
the
sheep
s demonstrated
y examples
of double-
headedanimalsand
animals
with more
than
four
legs.
The
literalist,
Eurocentric
nterpretation
f the
Coso
petroglyphs,
n
other
words,
confused denti-
ficationwith
meaning,
assumed
hat
any
concern
with
gamespecies
could
only
be related o
diet,
and
only
superficially
onsidered hedata
upporting
r
countering
he
hunting
magic interpretation.
n
empiricallymoredetailedexamination f the evi-
dence
suggests
nstead hat
petroglyphs
uch
as
Fig-
ure
9a
arenot
"hunters nd heir
quarry"
ut
bighorn
sheep
shamans
ransforming
nto heiranimal
pirit
helpers,
using
the
most common shamanic
metaphor
death to
symbolically signal
their
entry
nto an
alteredstate of
consciousness
e.g.,
Whitley
1994c,
1998c).
This
identification
ains
credence rom
he fact
thata shaman ndhis
helper
were
semantically
nd
epistemologically
ndistin-
guishable.What s then shown s notsimplyapre-
occupation
with
diet but
instead an
example
of
complex
symbolic
thought
wherein the auto-
sacrifice f the
shaman
was
necessary
o
enact
spir-
itual
work,
undertaken
y
entering
rance.
In
contrast o
the Coso
Range
GreatBasinrock
art,
Columbia
Plateau
hunting
scenes are icono-
graphically
istinct.
These
compositions
tress eal-
ism
of both
human
and
animal
participants
(includingdogs
and
ancillary
humanswho
act out
ethnographically
ocumented oles
as drivers f
the
game)andfrequentlyncludedrive ane fencesor
corral
structures
Corner
1968:59,
62, 77;
Keyser
1992:38,
80;
Keyser
and
Knight
1976:6;
Teit
1930:286;
York
tal.
1993:124,
161).
Nursery
erds
of
deer
composed
of
does
and awn
are
sometimes
illustrated
Keyser
1992:38,40,
55),
and
t was
ust
suchherds
hatwould
havebeen
the focus
of com-
munal
hunting.
Other
animals
in
these
scenes
includedeer,elk,caribou,mountain heep,moun-
tain
goats,
bison,
and
even
a
sturgeon
all
sought
after
game
species.
Weapons,
especially
bow
and
arrows,
are also
frequently
and
very
carefully
depicted
(Corner
1968:38, 99;
Keyser
1992:52,
79-80, 87,
115;
Keyser
et al.
2004:44).
Occasionally
here are
clear
depictions
n the
northern lateau
of
spirit
beings
(see
Keyser
et al.
1998
for detailed
discussion
of
spirit
beings
and
how
they
are
readily
differentiated
rom
"real"
humans)assisting in the hunt mimicking
the
ethnographically
eported pirit
helpers
sought
as
hunters'
utelary pirits
Cline
1938:
133-134;
Mal-
ouf and White
1952:3;
Ray
1938:80;
York
et al.
1993:91).
But there
is
only
one
example,
out
of
more than
50
known,
of a
therianthrope
hooting
an animal
(see
Yorket
al.
1993:91).
While
game
animals are sometimes
shown with
antlers and
hooves
in
a twisted
perspective,
they
are never
depicted
in fantasticforms nor
with identifiable
humanattributes.
Inshort,most of thesescenes(Figure4) appear
to be
hunting magery,
andone
(Figure
4a)
shows,
by
virtueof differential
evarnishing,
he addition
of a latersecondhunter
o an
original omposition
showing
hunterand
quarry.
Among
Columbia
Plateau
ribeswe have
good
ethnographic
evidence
linking
vision
questing,
including
he
creationof rock
art,
with subsistence
concerns
and
practices
much of which comes
from the northern
art
of the
region occupiedby
theThompson ndOkanoganribes Teit1930:286;
York tal.
1993:70,
154,
162-163
andsummarized
above).
A
key question,
however,
s whether his
artwouldbe identifiable s suchwithout hisethno-
graphic
documentation.
Setting
aside,
for a
moment,
he direct
ethnographic
eferences den-
tifying
hese
various
pictographs
s hunters'
ower,
we
assembleda
group
of these
images (including
examples
rom both
Top Related