BACKGROUND

The Traister Petroglyphs were first brought to the attention of the author by Ms. Ann Traister in the spring of 1981 when she asked if I would stop by at the family farm to examine a large rock with strange markings resembling bird tracks. Soon thereafter, the author visited the site, and after making some preliminary photographs and drawings submitted them to the Carnegie Museum where the location was officially designated as 36Cl103. Dr. James Swauger reviewed the findings at that time and acknowledged a probable Native American origin noting that the figures were similar to others encountered by his ongoing regional rock art survey. The site was first presented by the author as part of a formal paper at the annual meeting of the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology in April 1999, and was formally published in 2004.

LOCATION AND SETTING

The Traister Petroglyph site is located in Madison Township, Clarion County, Pennsylvania. It can be easily reached by traveling 2.9 km (1.8 miles) south on Lawsonham road from its juncture with state route 68 in the community of Rimersburg. The property is owned by the Mahlon Traister family with the rock containing the petroglyphs located roughly 32 m (105 feet) east of the road and 203.6 m (668 ft) southeast of the barn in an open field once used for pasture (Figure 2). Since this is private property, landowner permission should be obtained prior to entry.

Site Setting

This locale is an upland setting situated adjacent a long east–west extending hilltop that crests at 426.7 m (1400 ft). The site is located on the moderately steep eastern slope 79.2 m (260 ft) laterally from the crest of the hilltop at the 414.5 m (1360 foot) elevation. A natural spring, now supplying a pond, is approximately 228.6 m (750 ft) to the southwest and feeds into nearby Wildcat run, a minor tributary of the Redbank creek.

As is common on the moderately steep hillsides throughout the southern half of the county, a shallow Gilpin channery silt loam containing numerous coarse fragments of sandstone and shale comprises the soils of this slope (Loughry 1958). The many exposed boulders in the field are of Freeport sandstone associated with the Pennsylvanian period Allegheny geologic formation. They are comprised entirely of coarse grain sand with particles averaging to .01 centimeter in diameter and have extremely weathered and exhibit signs of ongoing rapid exfoliation.

SITE DESCRIPTION

The petroglyphs are found on a single flat tabular shaped boulder measuring 3.04 by 3.65 meters, with the eastern end elevated approximately one half meter above the current ground surface. The western half of the boulder was partially buried by up to 34 cm of topsoil displaced down-slope by modern farming activities. This soil was carefully removed to expose possible additional buried figures.

What made this particular surface special enough to be chosen for the placement of inscribed figures is unknown. Of all the many similarly sized exposed rocks throughout the field there appears to be nithing distnct or unusual that sets this one apart from the others.

All of the 13 identified designs, which include bird tracks, sets of hoofed mammal tracks, a bird figure, an abstract bird body/wing combination, and an abstract straight line, are oriented around the eastern edge of the rock. They were pecked and ground with stone tools produce nearly uniform grooves averaging 1.6 cm wide by .03 cm deep. Due to the coarseness of the weathered sandstone these are at best very difficult to discern and can be best viewed during low angled sunlight in the late evening or by using a wet sponge to highlight the rock surface. This petroglyph panel is unusual because of its lack of modern vandalism. Several narrow linear plow scars that do not directly impact the prehistoric designs are the only observable phisical disturbances.

Overview of Designs

With an average length of 28 cm, the five bird track representations are created in a typical anisodactyl configuration, common to most perching species of birds, with three toes in front and the hallux or opposing one behind. They are all oriented to the west as if the represented birds were standing at the edge of the rock facing toward the hilltop. Because of size, this figure form is often and probably correctly referred to in petroglyph literature as “turkey tracks”, but they could conceivably represent many other bird or mythical creature forms.

The three sets of tracks apparently representing the cloven hooves of deer or elk are somewhat smaller in size measuring only 7.11 cm in length. These are aligned as if to create a trackway and appear to represent movement in an easterly direction opposite of the birds.

A possible bird design is more difficult to discern than the others due to its shallow 1 cm wide grooves. While some may interpret the figure as a human form, it is the author's opinion that it represents a bird, based on the interpretation of similar figures at Parkers Landing (36CL1) and Indian God Rock (36Ve26). Oriented with the head facing west and the body northward, it is 11 cm long and is made as a stick-like figure with intersecting lines representing a head, outstretched wings, and a forked tail.

Oriented in a western direction, an abstract bird form is made up two parallel lines representing the body, each measuring approximately 15 centimeters long and spaced about eight centimeters apart with a single outstretched comb shaped wing extending from the left side which measures 19.05 centimeters long. Similar bird-like figures wtih an outlined body and single extending wing have been described by Dr. James Swauger at the Sugar Grove Petroglyphs (36GR5) Swauger (1965:53) and at the Parkers Landing Petroglyphs (36Cl1) (Swauger 1966:6).

Adjacent to the two largest bird tracks is a large abstract “X” measuring 21.5 centimeters in length. This figure has a pecked circular depression measuring 1.2 centimeters in diameter by .63 centimeters deep positioned directly at the convergence of the two lines.

The last design is a single abstract straight line measuring 13.9 centimeters long, which is aligned in a north to south orientation.

DISCUSSION

The Traister Petroglyphs are part of a cluster of similar sites within the Middle Allegheny River basin, which includes Parkers Landing (36Cl1), Rainbow Rocks (36Ve20), and Indian God Rock (36Ve26). Each of the figure styles found at 36Cl103 are also present at the other nearby rock art locations. While turkey tracks found at all four sites, deer tracks and similar bird forms are present at both Parkers Landing and Indian God Rock. This continuity reflects cultural ideas relating to events, folklore or religious beliefs probably shared by the local occupants of the area.

Of this cluster, both Parkers Landing and Indian God Rock are large sites with numerous figures that are located on the river bank, while the Rainbow rocks and the Traister Petroglyphs are small sites with few figures situated in relatively isolated settings at remote upland locations. Rex Weeks (2001) suggests that the larger, easily accessed, and profusely utilized valley sites were probably locations for group activities, while the smaller more isolated upland settings possibly served as private venues for more secretive individual activities.

These seemingly out-of-the-way places may however relate to their proximity to prehistoric pathways which conceivably utilized the fairly level extended ridge tops as easily negotiated avenues. Wallace (1971) notes that the Frankstown-Venango trail, after crossing the Redbank creek at Fishbasket, continues in a northwesterly direction toward the modern village of Van on a course would have passed near the Rainbow Rocks site. Another branch of this important trail known as the Venango-Kittanning path possibly traversed the ridge at the Traister site on its way south. This hypothesis is reinforced at both locations by the presence of temporary campsites, which are evident at the Rainbow Rocks site as a heavily utilized trailside rockshelter and at the Traister site locale as a small artifact collection ranging in age from the Early Archaic through the Late Woodland periods.

CONCLUSIONS

Because of its nearly obscure figures, small size, and out of the way setting, the Traister petroglyphs remained unrecognized during nearly two centuries of modern activity. It is highly likely that that more such sites await discovery and that they should be considered by archaeological surveys in upland locations throughout the unglaciated sections of the Allegheny plateau, particularly those areas within the immediate the vicinity of known or suspected prehistoric trailways. This is one aspect of Archaeology where an increased effort to provide public awareness and education will undoubtedly aid in the recognition of additional rock art locations by individuals who are familiar with and travel the regional landscapes while working or pursuing recreational activities.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This paper is presented in memory of Mr. Mahlon Traister and in regards to the Traister family without whom the discovery, continued courteous access for exploration and reporting of this important site could not have occurred.

REFERENCES

Burkett, Kenneth
2004 The Traister Petroglyphs. Pennsylvania Archaeologist 74 (2):41-47

Loughry, Frank G
1958 Soil Survey of Clarion, Pennsylvania. United States Department of Agriculture in Cooperation with the Pennsylvania State University College of Agriculture and Experimental Station. US Government Printing Office, Washington D. C.

Richardson, J.B. and J.L. Swauger
1996 The Petroglyphs Speak: Rock Art and Iroquois Origins. Journal of Middle Atlantic Archaeology 12:43-51.

Swauger, James L.
1974 Rock Art of the Upper Ohio Valley. Akademische Druck-und Verlagsanstalt, Graz, Austria

1992 Native American Rock Art in the Eastern United States. Pennsylvania Archaeologist 62 (1):64-83.

Wallace, Paul A.
1971 Indian Paths in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, PA

Weeks, Rex
2001 The Monongahela Rock Art Style: The Social Context and Signifance of an Ancient Algonquin Tradition in the Upper Ohio Valley. Masters-In-Passing Degree Paper, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ.