Masters Theses

Date of Award

5-2004

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Major

Anthropology

Major Professor

Jan F. Simek

Committee Members

Walter E. Klippel, Charles H. Faulkner

Abstract

This thesis project was designed to document a previously unrecorded prehistoric rock art site in Eastern Kentucky and to examine the application of a contextual approach to determine the site's placement in a regional culture history. The site consisted of 59 recorded petroglyphs located on boulders and cliff walls above and below a natural waterfall. As the in-situ petroglyphs were not dated by conventional rock art dating methods, the collection of physiographic, geologic, and culture historic data was combined with archaeological survey data to present a contextual picture of the open-air rock art site. As no other sites had been recorded in the immediate vicinity, this was an opportunity to explore the application of a contextual approach and to determine the validity of the approach to the documentation of rock art sites.

In conclusion, the application of a contextual approach alone did not provide definitive placement of this rock art site in a regional culture history; however, the collected contextual data did provide logical inferences concerning site cultural affiliation and chronology. It also revealed an absolute need for regional comparative rock art datasets based on contextual site characteristics. Additional surveying and testing of the area is recommended.

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