Fremont moccasin print petroglyphs,
Dinosaur Nat. Mon. Grand County, UT.
Photo: Peter Faris, June 1986.
A subject
of interest in rock art is the portrayal of footwear. What do these images
mean, what is their implication, what do they represent? For the sake of this
discussion I will assume that any image of the outline of a human foot that
does not display toes represents a shod foot - showing a foot wearing footwear,
a sandal or moccasin. Such shod foot prints are a common subject of Fremont
Rock Art of the Dinosaur National Monument.
Fremont style moccasin, Hogup cave,
Utah. Wikimedia, Public Domain.
A large
number of leather moccasins have been retrieved from dry caves and rock
shelters in Utah. Promontory Caves, on the shores of Utah's Great Salt Lake
were first excavated in the 1930s, and excavations resumed in 2011 under the
supervision of Dr. Jack Ives of the University of Alberta.
"The site - part of a complex
of natural shelters known as the Promontory Caves - contains "exceedingly
abundant" artifacts numbering in the thousands, Ives said, marking a human
occupation that began rather suddenly about 850 years ago. Scant ceramic sherds
and basket fragments, meanwhile, bear strong sigs of influence from other Great
Basin cultures, including the Fremont. This wealth of artifacts may go a long
way in demystifying the distinctive, little-researched populations often referred
to as the Promontory Culture."
(De Pastino 2015)
Promontory Cave moccasins,
westerndigs.org,
Public Domain.
"But it was the staggering
amount of footwear in the caves that captured the attention of archaeologists,
past and present. With soles made from a single piece of bison leather, lined
with fur, and sewn together at the heel, the moccasins are made in a style
typical of the Canadian Subarctic, Ives said, a fashion his team describes as
being "decidedly out of place in the eastern Great Basin. These moccasins
and other cues have led some experts to theorize that the cave's inhabitants
were part of a great migration from the far north, a wave of people who moved
into the Great Basin in the 12th and 13th centuries, and eventually gave rise
to cultures that include the Apache and the Navajo." (De Pastino 2015)
Note, this
description of the Promontory Culture people of Utah connects them with at
least influence from the Fremont people if not sharing the Fremont culture
outright. The Fremont, and other, people of Utah and Northwestern Colorado
commonly wore leather moccasins. Fremont researchers describe the Fremont
people as possessing a unique form of moccasin made from the hide removed from
the lower leg of a deer and having the dew claws of the deer left on. "The Fremont made moccasins from the
lower-leg hide of large animals, such as deer, bighorn sheep or bison. Dew
claws were left on the soles, possibly to act as hobnails, providing extra
traction on slippery surfaces." (nps.gov)
Fremont moccasin print petroglyphs,
Dinosaur Nat. Mon. Grand County, UT.
Photo: Peter Faris, June 1986.
The
migration mentioned above, known as the Athapaskan migration occurred roughly
500 years ago. It is believed to have involved a relatively small group that
assimilated and intermixed with resident groups along their route and in the
southwest. Their influence is illustrated by the fact that the Athapaskan
family of languages is now dominant in much of the southwest. The Navajo and
Apache peoples are descendants of these Athapaskan migrants and their languages
are closely related to Chipewyan, an Athapaskan language spoken in the
subarctic. (ScienceDaily 2008) The relationship of these migrants to the
Fremont people is still not fully understood, but the Fremont wore a type of
moccasin inspired by the Athapaskan migrants, suggesting a strong influence.
Fremont moccasin print petroglyphs,
Dinosaur Nat. Mon. Grand County, UT.
Photo: Peter Faris, June 1986.
One
location with a large number of petroglyphs of footwear (shod footprints) is
found at Station #17 on Harper's Corner Road, in Dinosaur National Park, right
by the northwestern Colorado/northeastern Utah Border. This is classical
Fremont territory and rock art in this area is predominately Fremont, dating
from sometime after 100 AD to ca. 1300 AD.
Fremont moccasin print petroglyphs,
Dinosaur Nat. Mon. Grand County, UT.
Photo: Peter Faris, June 1986.
Would an
image of a moccasin have served as a symbol of travel, or does it represent
something else entirely? What do you think?
NOTE: Some images in this posting were retrieved from the internet
in a search for public domain photographs. If any of these images are not
intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture
credits if the owner will contact me with them. For further information on
these reports you should read the originals at the sites listed below.
REFERENCES:
De Pastino,
Blake,
2015 Utah Cave Full of Children's Moccasins Sheds
Light on Little-Known Ancient Culture, http://westerndigs.org/utah-cave-full-of-childrens-moccasins-sheds-light-on-little-known-ancient-culture/
https://www.nps.gov/care/learn/historyculture/fremont.htm
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080715104932.htm
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