Representation and meaning in rock art: the case of Algonquian rock images

Abstract

ABSTRACT Over the past decade, discussions on ontology, animism and semiotics have generated numerous avenues of research on the meanings of rock images. In a context marked by the increasing recognition of Indigenous knowledges, a number of archaeologists have questioned representationalism and the idea that rock art has a fixed meaning in the past. In this paper, we discuss these new approaches with reference to the rock art of the Algonquian-speaking peoples of Central and Eastern Canada. We show how, for many Algonquian groups, rock art signified and continues to signify their experiences and practices in a continually emergent world. As such, we recognize that meaning within Algonquian relational ontologies is fluid without compromising the material-semiotic representations and intentions of the original creators. To illustrate this point, we examine the layers of significance associated with the rock art of the Canadian Shield and discuss a petroglyph site from the Canadian Maritimes.