A remarkable photograph by a friend of the Reef Bay trail waterfalls and petroglyphs on St John, US Virgin Islands.
These petroglyphs are all over the Caribbean and are thought to be around 500-1000 years old from the migration of Amerindians of the Arawak peoples from the Orinoco area, up through the Caribbean all the way to the Bahamas, and then back.
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Very nice and I wonder what is their meaning. Petroglyphs are a common feature from aboriginal groups world-wide and even here they are very common.
JackPedigo
Level 9
Jan 17, 2020
0
Wonder what they mean ?
Cast1es
Level 9
Jan 17, 2020
1
I think that asking the question as to their meaning is perhaps the wrong question. Unless they have equivalency in the existing culture of the area and are still in use, or were within living memory, it's impossible to know. Attaching meaning without a modern usage is a dangerous endeavor. Early archaeology is full of well meaning souls that commonly attached religious meanings to items that later turn out to have no religious affiliation. It's tempting to do.
A fun read from the 1970's archaeology annuals is a short story called "Nacirema". Is a satirical, but satirical look at the "American" culture by future archaeologists. It's a fun tongue in cheek read. Demonstrates the propensity to identify usage to things with no extant cognate. Like a toilet as an alter. Lol
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