Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Are Petroglyphs Markers For Frontier Boundaries Or Directional To Raw Material Resources?, Howard R. Feldman, Philip Charles Laporta Jr., Talia J. Belowich

Lander College for Women - The Anna Ruth and Mark Hasten School Publications and Research

The Shawangunk, NY region is known for rich mineral resources: anomalous concentrations of quartz crystals; native silver; silver, copper and zinc sulfides; and minimal quantities of native gold. The Shawangunks also host Native American petroglyphs carved into local bedrock. Although the Shawangunks are rich in metallic ores and semiprecious minerals, the entire range is sorely deficient in chert and other raw materials used for prehistoric subsistence. Despite the lack of raw materials for subsistence needs, archaeological tools found in the area are strikingly similar in raw-material type, as well as general morphology, to quarry-extraction tools discovered in the adjacent Wallkill …