Petroglyphs Provincial Park is a historical-class

provincial park Ischigualasto Provincial Park A provincial park (or territorial park) is a park administered by one of the provinces of a country, as opposed to a national park. They are similar to state parks in other countries. They are typically open to the ...

situated in Woodview, Ontario,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, northeast of

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

. It has the largest collection of ancient

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

s (rock carvings) in Ontario. The carvings were created in the

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...

era and represents aspects of First Nations spirituality, including images of shamans, animals, reptiles, and, possibly, the Great Spirit itself. The location of the site was kept hidden from non-First Nation people until 1954, when it was rediscovered accidentally by a prospector (Everett Davis) of the Industrial Minerals of Canada. The immediate area of the petroglyphs has been designated a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of t ...

Petroglyph origins

The stone is generally believed to have been carved by the Algonquian or Iroquoian speaking people between 900 and 1100 AD., if not somewhat earlier during the Archaic. Today, the First Nations people of Ontario call the carvings Kinomagewapkong, meaning "the rocks that teach" or "the Teaching Rocks". Originally two to three inches deep the 1200 carvings were made using

gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures an ...

hammers to incise human figures, animals, and a dominant figure whose head apparently represents the sun, onto the soft, gently sloping walls. The petroglyphs were first thoroughly recorded in 1965 and 1968 by Joan Vastokas of the University of Toronto and Ron Vastokas of Trent University in Peterborough. Their book, ''Sacred Art of the Algonkians'', is considered by rock art scholars the most definitive study and interpretation to date. Cast of boat

According to the Learning Center, while the glyphs are important, they are not the primary reason this site is sacred. The rock site itself is a sacred place. And today is a place of pilgrimage for local

Ojibwe people The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

. The deep crevices in the rock are believed to lead to the spirit world, as there is an underground trickle of water that runs beneath the rock which produces sounds interpreted by aboriginal people as those of the Spirits speaking to them.

Ecology

Although officially a Historical Class park, the petroglyphs themselves are actually concentrated in a relatively small area of the park. The rest consists of primarily woodland habitat home to several provincially rare species, such as the five-lined skink, ''

Eumeces fasciatus The (American) five-lined skink (''Plestiodon fasciatus'') is a species of lizard in the Family (biology), family Scincidae. The species is Endemism, endemic to North America. It is one of the most common lizards in the eastern United States, ...

''.

As the park also borders the nearby Peterborough Crown Game Reserve a number of animals indigenous to the area may also be spotted including: beavers, otters, white-tailed deer, squirrels, chipmunks and the occasional wolf. A great number of birds can also be spotted including: wild turkeys, woodpeckers, grouse, hawks, jays and eagles.

Facilities

The park is open 10 am to 5 pm daily (excepting Mondays and Tuesdays in the spring and fall) from the second Friday in May to

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden and ...

. The park's visitor centre is known as the Learning Place, and opened in 2002. The centre is managed by

Curve Lake First Nation Curve Lake First Nation ( oj, Oshkiigmong) is a Mississauga Ojibway First Nation located in Peterborough County of Ontario. Curve Lake First Nation occupies three reserves; Curve Lake First Nation 35, Curve Lake 35A, and Islands in the Trent ...

, and features displays about the petroglyphs and their spiritual significance to the First Nations people. A movie ''The Teaching Rocks'' is shown daily, upon request and during evening programs. There is also a children's hands-on activity room and a gift shop. The rock carvings are covered by a protective building, and there are interpretive plaques and guides at the site. Photographing and videotaping the rock carvings is not permitted for spiritual reasons, and dogs are not allowed inside any of the buildings.https://www.ontarioparks.com/park/petroglyphs/facilities.html

References

External links

* {{Authority control Provincial parks of Ontario Rock art in North America Archaeological sites in Ontario First Nations museums in Canada Museums in Peterborough County Protected areas of Peterborough County Petroglyphs in Canada Protected areas established in 1981 1981 establishments in Ontario National Historic Sites in Ontario

Petroglyph origins

Ecology

Facilities

See also

References

Further reading

External links