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2. Dibéwagendamowin / Kārohirohi: Reflections on Sacred Images on the Rocks
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32 2. Dibéwagendamowin / Kārohirohi: Reflections on Sacred Images on the Rocks William A. Allen, Gerard O’Regan, Perry Fletcher, and Roger Noganosh Abstract: Observations of reflected sunlight shimmering on ancient rock art have previously been reported with the implication that the visual effect adds to the significance of the images or locality (Arsenault 2004a:305; Hyder 2004:89). This paper provides an account of the landscape features at a number of water’s edge rock faces in northern Ontario in Canada and Lake Taupō in New Zealand where the phenomenon appears on or about painted images. It explores factors to be considered in determining whether there is an actual correlation between the reflected light and the placement of the rock paintings and, if so, how such reflections may have been interpreted within the traditional worldviews of the Anishinaabeg in Canada and the Māori in New Zealand. Northern Ontario’s French River was the main route of access from eastern Canada to Lake Huron and its connecting long-distance routes to the upper Mississippi River and to Canada’s great Northwest. In October 2008, Ontario archaeologist William Allen, accompanied by local elders, introduced Gerard O’Regan, a rock art researcher from Ngāi Tahu, a Māori tribe of New Zealand, to the sites of some French River rock paintings. The localities could only be visited by boat, from which in the calm, sunny, autumn conditions we observed shimmering sunlight reflected from the water onto the red ochre rock paintings. We pondered. Would the creators of the paintings have seen such shimmering light, and might it have influenced where they chose to paint? Would subsequent Making Senses of the Past: Toward a Sensory Archaeology, edited by Jo Day. Center for Archaeological Investigations, Occasional Paper No. 40. © 2013 by the Board of Trustees, Southern Illinois Univer sity. All rights reserved. ISBN 978-0-8093-3287-8. Dibéwagendamowin/Kārohirohi: Reflections on Sacred Images 33 visitors to the rock paintings have seen the shimmer and could it have contributed to the experience of the paintings and the place? Moreover, to what extent can such modern observations reasonably be related to past activities? In a review of archaeological approaches to landscape, Arsenault (2004b:80) calls for archaeologists to enhance their interpretations of sacred landscapes by better incorporating the traditional knowledge of indigenous worldviews and further developing tools for investigating what might be described as sensory factors such as sound, touch, and light effects (Arsenault 2004a:303–306). Such an approach would allow for broader perspectives than can be achieved through strict examinations of static, visual perspectives and would better reflect the range of phenomena that Indigenous Peoples are understood to appreciate at sacred places. We have found this approach to be valuable when considering specific heritage sites of two unrelated cultures on either side of the globe. In this regard, we discuss our observations of shimmering reflected sunlight on rock paintings in Ontario, Canada, and in New Zealand. Ontario Observations In calm conditions slight movement in the water surface from currents or ripples caused by a gentle breeze can create unevenness in the concentration of reflected sunlight on neighboring surfaces. This can result in an observable shimmering effect on those surfaces if they are sufficiently broad, angled appropriately to the source of the light reflections, and partially reflective themselves, as is the case, for example, with the hull of a boat or a clear rock surface. Rock paintings in Ontario are almost always positioned on vertical rock faces at the water’s edge. During two days of field visits to rock painting sites on French River and Rock Lake (Figure 2-1), the shimmering light effect was noticeable at four different localities. All four sites were visited by boat in calm, sunny conditions. After initially observing the shimmering reflections, we recorded the effects from the boat using a handheld Canon Si5 camera in 640 × 480, 30 fps video mode. Care was taken to ensure that there was no disturbance of the water surface or light source by the boat or its wake; this sometimes required filming from a distance, using high zoom settings on the camera. Given these factors, the resulting video recordings contain considerable shaking and jitter, but there is sufficient stable footage to clearly document the natural shimmering light effect on the painted rock surfaces. The first recording was made at a rock bluff on the northern side of French River about 1 km west of the Trans...