Art speaks volumes without uttering a sound. Rock carving Alberta renders an artistic view of the prehistoric trail of aboriginal Blackfoot history. Etched in stone imagery, within the abundance of Canada's majestic countryside, there remains a gift of stylized engravings and primitive paintings, left by the Blackfoot tribe, for all the world to see. Fossilized in time by nature, a rudimentary 'open book' offers a historical passage of daily life that reveals mysteries that would, otherwise, remain an unknown story.
Etchings were embedded into abundant soft sandstone that comprised caves, cliffs and rugged, remote rock formations in Canada with primitive tools appropriated from stones, bones and metal resources. The soft rock provided the canvas for paints evolved from naturally occurring, pigmented minerals mixed with animal fat or water. Tribesmen gave credence to the elements, wind, rain and ice, for shape-shifting their artistic renderings via erosion, into the likeness of spirits they believed lived in the cliffs and crevices of the landscape.
Though authenticity and age can be attributed through archeology, some aspects of the ancient stone artistry remains speculative. The fact that the elemental forces of nature weathered, re-cast and rendered the shapes of stone formations into the tribes revered spiritual representations, while sparing the primitive paints and detailed engravings, remains an unanswered mystery. Likewise, unanswered questions remain regarding the incomprehensibly labor-intensive, structural dynamics achieved in the construction of the ancient Egyptian Pyramids.
The earliest aboriginal stone carvings replicate local wildlife in artistic renditions of bison, bear, deer, snakes and insect species. As time passed, horses were depicted in drawings showing tribesmen riding horseback and warriors on foot carrying protective shields.
The Blackfoot culture placed spiritual life on equal footing with the physical world. Animals held a powerful spiritual connotation in aboriginal beliefs and were honored as focal subjects of many paintings and etchings for their life-giving sustenance.
Archaeologists have ascertained that many of the fossilized Blackfoot antiquities date back 3,000 years. Sixteenth century descendants continued the practice of recording history through artful carvings and paintings of travel by horseback and the implementation of more sophisticated weaponry.
Human thoughtlessness has resulted in denuding many forests for gaining real estate that once held irreplaceable treasures created by the hands of the ancient Blackfoot tribe. A one-of-a-kind, pictorial trail left by an ancient ancestry has been broken, leaving an irrevocable void in the historic passage of this prehistoric aboriginal clan, impacting descendants and future generations with a major loss.
The lost artifacts of Canada's ancient Blackfoot tribe have resulted in stringent laws for protecting the remaining treasury of rock carving Alberta, through penalties that carry costly fines and imprisonment for those who deface sacred, archaeological relics. The priceless gifts, painted and sculpted into the landscape by an ancient, aboriginal clan, deserves no less than the assurance of preservation for all time, with the same honor that inspired their historic, selfless purpose of enlightenment for future generations.
Etchings were embedded into abundant soft sandstone that comprised caves, cliffs and rugged, remote rock formations in Canada with primitive tools appropriated from stones, bones and metal resources. The soft rock provided the canvas for paints evolved from naturally occurring, pigmented minerals mixed with animal fat or water. Tribesmen gave credence to the elements, wind, rain and ice, for shape-shifting their artistic renderings via erosion, into the likeness of spirits they believed lived in the cliffs and crevices of the landscape.
Though authenticity and age can be attributed through archeology, some aspects of the ancient stone artistry remains speculative. The fact that the elemental forces of nature weathered, re-cast and rendered the shapes of stone formations into the tribes revered spiritual representations, while sparing the primitive paints and detailed engravings, remains an unanswered mystery. Likewise, unanswered questions remain regarding the incomprehensibly labor-intensive, structural dynamics achieved in the construction of the ancient Egyptian Pyramids.
The earliest aboriginal stone carvings replicate local wildlife in artistic renditions of bison, bear, deer, snakes and insect species. As time passed, horses were depicted in drawings showing tribesmen riding horseback and warriors on foot carrying protective shields.
The Blackfoot culture placed spiritual life on equal footing with the physical world. Animals held a powerful spiritual connotation in aboriginal beliefs and were honored as focal subjects of many paintings and etchings for their life-giving sustenance.
Archaeologists have ascertained that many of the fossilized Blackfoot antiquities date back 3,000 years. Sixteenth century descendants continued the practice of recording history through artful carvings and paintings of travel by horseback and the implementation of more sophisticated weaponry.
Human thoughtlessness has resulted in denuding many forests for gaining real estate that once held irreplaceable treasures created by the hands of the ancient Blackfoot tribe. A one-of-a-kind, pictorial trail left by an ancient ancestry has been broken, leaving an irrevocable void in the historic passage of this prehistoric aboriginal clan, impacting descendants and future generations with a major loss.
The lost artifacts of Canada's ancient Blackfoot tribe have resulted in stringent laws for protecting the remaining treasury of rock carving Alberta, through penalties that carry costly fines and imprisonment for those who deface sacred, archaeological relics. The priceless gifts, painted and sculpted into the landscape by an ancient, aboriginal clan, deserves no less than the assurance of preservation for all time, with the same honor that inspired their historic, selfless purpose of enlightenment for future generations.
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