Rock Art: Dating

Rock art has been an expressionistic tradition found in Paleolithic Europe, Mesolithic India, and Archaic North America. In many areas (such as Canada), the earliest known rock art displays are dated to the earliest occupation of the country.

Although there is no known precise technique in which dating of rock art exists, it can be dated through a process of association with artifacts found, the types of pictures represented, etc. Another way of generalizing the dates of rock art is by the identification of the objects depicted in the rock art itself. This style of dating is called absolute dating. This is found through the subjects depicted, consistent association with the datable deposits, stratified dating, deposit dating, and direct dating of the art itself.

Another form of dating is called relative dating. The ideas in the relative dating technique are the degree of weathering, stylistic analysis, and inter-site patterning. There are three general dates of human figures. The v-neck and rectangular paintings of humans are of prehistoric and historic times. The triangular body style appears with historic counterparts, therefore, it is considered historic. The shield bearing human figures were late prehistoric. The three main dates of animal figures are the mature, boat-form, and the naturalistic styles. The naturalistic is the oldest style and the mature style is historic, leaving the boat-form in the late prehistoric.

Written by Kathy Roetzel, 2000