Moon Walk features prehistoric rock art

The southern Black Hills is steeped in archaeological sites, and July Moon Walkers had an opportunity to learn a bit about just a few of them.

Gathering in a field alongside U.S. highway 18 just a few miles north of Edgemont, participants prepared for the two-mile trek to Stone Quarry Canyon.

Archaeologist Michael Engelhart (shown at right) was the featured speaker for this Moon Walk. He works for the Hell Canyon Ranger District of the Black Hills National Forest. A native of North Dakota, Michael shared his knowledge of prehistoric rock art, which seems to abound in this area. His two boys, Rueben and Isaac, joined us for the Moon Walk, too, as did Michael’s fiancée and fellow Forest Service employee, Ami. They live in Custer.

This was the largest Moon Walk of the year, according to coordinator Amy Ballard of the U.S. Forest Service, which co-sponsors the events with the Black Hills Parks and Forests Association.

“We had 263 participants Saturday night,” said Ballard.

“We are having a good year for attendance at the Moon Walks - 576 participants with two more programs to go!

While the 263 count is the largest for this year, it’s still considerably short of the record, according to Ballard.

“Our largest attended walks were the 1880 Train program in 2005 at 371 participants, and the Mountain Lion program in 2006 with 348 participants. Since December of 1996 we have hosted 114 programs with 11,985 participants.”

That averages out to about 105 participants per program.

This is a drawing of the main rock art panel at Stone Quarry Canyon. It captures well most of what one experiences in the Canyon. Linea Sundstrom published this drawing in her book Fragile Heritage: Prehistoric Rock Art of South Dakota, 1993, by the National Park Service through the South Dakota Historical Preservation Center.

Horizontal and vertical "hoop" designs were capture nets that were used to funnel and concentrate the game. This type of rock art is called "pecked realistic" and dates in the Black Hills From 2500-7500 years ago. It is the oldest type. You can click on this image to see a larger version.

In the center of the lower right is a stick with a diamond shaped object. This is an atlatl, a prehistoric hunting tool that predates bow and arrow.

One can notice humans (including pregnant woman, upper right) dogs, deer, antelope, and mountain lion in the petroglyph. The mountain lion has been interpreted as a sign of a succcessful hunt.

Visit our Moon Walk Gallery for additional photos and information about this and other Moon Walks.

The July outing was dedicated to botanist Andrew Korth, who led the June 26th Moon Walk about wildflowers near Deerfield Reservoir. He died in a boating accident the next day, along with Forest Service colleague Jeramy Rogers and his daughter, Sierra Rogers.

Our next Moon Walk is scheduled for Saturday, August 21st, east of Scenic, South Dakota. The Nature Conservancy will discuss the unique plants and conservation efforts of a recent land acquisition in that area. Find more information about Moon Walks and other Forest Service initiatives at Black Hills National Forest.