Ancient Art Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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This cache is part of Vancouver Island 2nd Annual Hide & Go Cache.
Parking is available in the lower Sproat Lake Campground Parking Lot. It is about a 10 minute mostly flat walk to the cache site.
This is a high muggle area in summer and we ask that you please rehide the cache as you found it. This cache is a sign the log only - no trades.
One of the finest panels of petroglyphs to be seen in British Columbia is located on Sproat Lake, at the east end of Sproat Lake Provincial Park. Located west of Port Alberni, the park combines a visit to the petroglyphs with great recreation provided on Sproat Lake. Rock carvings and paintings are found throughout the inhabited world. In British Columbia alone, over 500 examples of this type of archaeological site have been recorded, more than in any other province in Canada.
The rock carvings, or petroglyphs, were made by the aboriginal people of the region by pecking and abrading selected rock surfaces with stone tools.
The paintings, or pictographs, were applied to rock with brushes, sticks or fingers. Pigments were usually made from powdered minerals (ochres); haematite and limonite.
Locations for rock art carvings and paintings were carefully chosen. They were places of power or mystery; places where the forces of nature were believed to be especially strong. They are marked by unusual natural features such as waterfalls, rock formations or caves. Nearly all sites are near water and may also be near old village sites or along trails or ancient trade routes.
Petroglyphs and pictographs are the records of a people with no written language and are rare links with the past native cultures of the province. They record coming of age ceremonies, performed by youths, and were burial markers or guardians for the dead. They commemorate potlatches and semi-secret events occurring during the winter ceremonials. Some, like the intertidal carvings of the coast, may have 'called' the fish into the rivers to be caught. Others marked the boundaries of hunting and fishing territories. Certain sites may have been part of secretive shamanistic rituals. A few were records of disaster: floods, landslides, storms, and wars. Although in a few cases there are explanations of why a particular carving or painting was made, the majority are still unexplained.
All rock art sites in BC are protected by law. However, none can be considered as protected unless everyone recognizes them as vulnerable and respects them as a unique part of the cultural heritage of British Columbia.
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Treasures
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