The rock-art of Point Pleasant Park in Halifax, Nova Scotia

Abstract

The rock-art of Point Pleasant Park has been largely unacknowledged by academic research and popular narratives. This study seeks to remedy such oversight by exploring the function of this contemporary assemblage, based on the (1) frequency, (2) placement, and (3) content of the art. To productively encompass and limit the research focus, this study defines rock-art as human-made images, designs, or writing, irrespective of stylistic qualities, which occur on natural rock faces but not human-built features.<br />Phase One data collection located rock-art throughout the 190-acre park via unstructured field-walking. Figure locations were mapped on paper, using visual estimation and cellphone GPS. Five areas of intense activity were identified. The current estimate for rock-art within the park is 488 figures, consisting of 375 petroglyphs and 113 pictograms. The coastal region near Chain Rock was selected for Phase Two, in-depth cataloguing and analysis. The majority of the target site figures are names, effectively and sometimes explicitly, stating "I was here". Culture is embedded in other works, such as Pacman ghosts or a quote from Dr. Seuss' The Lorax.<br /> Literacy has caused Haligonian rock-art to diverge from pictures as the predominate means of artistic rock adornment and communication of ideas; they instead rely on text. Yet these modern humans are still engaged in a vernacular form of meaning making. Many researchers posit that rock-art is a human universal, suggesting that literate humans have continued this practice, albeit in modified form. Rock-art, varied as it is in appearance, time, place, and purpose, functions less as an artifact, or a collection of artifact-types; it more closely functions as a conversation.