Thanks Jacques,
These are very interesting pictures. Could you tell what is the approximative date of these paintings ?
They are pretty much in the same style as some of the pictures from the Neolithic period found in Tanum or Alta in Norway. But we know that the style doesn't tell the dates.
Yours sincerely.
Paul
Dear Paul,
Keeping in mind that in this region what we call ‘prehistory’ or ‘pre-contact’ lasts until the middle decades of the 19th century (!), and given the general character of the representations, the panels can certainly be viewed as prehistoric.
Here is what Giddings (referenced earlier) had to say, in 1941, about the age of the panels:
An idea of the age of the paintings could be gained only from the presence of lichens over some of them, and the fact that the trees which had grown immediately in front of the cliff were determined by ring count to be approximately seventy years old. The underhang of the cliff, however, as well as the quality of the pigment, suggest the possibility of great age.
I just found out that more work has been carried out at this site, but the results have yet to be published. Also, I was told, yesterday, that other pictographs had been found in a nearby region of Central Alaska. If and when I get the details, I'll pass them on.
Cordialement,
Jacques
