When one thinks about rock carvings in the Black Hills , usually Mount Rushmore or Crazy Horse memorials come to mind . Some though , are much smaller , older and mysterious . . .
When one thinks about rock carvings in the Black Hills , usually Mount Rushmore or Crazy Horse memorials come to mind . Some though , are much smaller , older and mysterious . . .
and some people have dedicated their lives to protecting them from achieving the same levels of fame and visitation as those other carvings . Ancient rock art in the Black Hills dates back to as many as 8,000 years old as some estimates go . Some are much newer — a site in the eastern end of Custer County was likely used as late as the 1700s .
Archaeologists define rock art as the markings , paintings , etchings , and carvings made onto rock surfaces like cliff faces , caves or overhangs . There are also more specific terms like petroglyph , which is carved rock art , or pictograph , which is generally painted . The Black Hills , as well as the Cave Hills to the north , are among the largest homes of rock art in the region and also display a wide variety of styles . Rock art sites are sacred to indigenous peoples who have inhabited the area over several thousand years , and studying their rock art can reveal aspects of their ancient cultures and lifestyles .
“ Deciding when and by whom rock art was made is usually a matter of detective work ,” wrote Linea Sundstrom in her book Storied Stone : Indian Rock Art of the Black Hills Country . Sundstrom grew up in the Black Hills and is an expert on rock art and protecting archaeological sites in the region .
The Black Hills have been inhabited off and on for about 13,000 years , first by paleo-Indians who had crossed into the great plains from the north . The earliest evidence of people in the Black Hills is from the Clovis and Goshen cultures . The first were the Clovis , who archaeologists know relatively little about . These people were wandering hunters , and came through a Black Hills that is much different from the Hills we know today . Back then , they hunted large animals like the extinct mammoths or other ice-age animals . With their extinction about 10,000 years ago , the Clovis complex ended too . Other than some spear points , there is little evidence of their use , and the same goes for the Goshen people , who also left spear points and hunted large animals around the Black Hills .
Following the Clovis and Goshen was the Folsom culture . It was in this period that evidence of bison hunting first developed in the area and would continue as other cultures moved in and out . From this point forward , bison would be a central component of Native culture in the area and would begin appearing in the rock art of people who encountered them . The Black Hills foothills were prime habitat for bison , which attracted people to the area . In past decades , several bison kill sites dating back thousands of years have been discovered around the larger Black Hills area .
In the late historic period , a new form of technology reached the great plains — the bow and arrow . This enabled greater accuracy and speed than previous weapons like the spear or atlatl . The last Indigenous group to come to the Black Hills are the ones who still lay claim to the region today , the Lakota .
The first bands of Lakota arrived at the Black Hills from the east in the late 1700s , pushing out other groups there before . Still , when Lewis and Clark came through South Dakota in 1804 , the Cheyennes , Arapahos and Kiowas were still camped at the edge of the Black Hills , but the Lakota would push the Kiowas , as well as the Naishan Dene , further out in coming decades . The Crows also used the Black Hills but were driven west in this time too .
The Lakota , northern Cheyenne and Arapaho had a formidable alliance , and were able to keep much of the Black Hills area protected from white pioneers and explorers while the rest of the country was continually being settled . They even proved successful in battles against the U . S . Army until the late 1800s when there was no going back from settlement of the Black Hills .
Styles of rock art in the Black Hills vary and change with the different cultures who inhabited the area and with time . The oldest date back to some of the first groups to live here , and others date back to post-contact European settlers . Depictions of people , animals , and scenes in the rock art show differences in lifestyles and beliefs as well as advancements in weapons and hunting methods .
These grooves carved into the rock may have served a dual purpose as they could be used to fashion tools or weapons , but they also could have been made to look like deer tracks . Other carvings and symbols appear scattered along the rock as well .
23