Storied Stone: Indian Rock Art in the Black Hills Country

Ancient petroglyphs and paintings on rocky cliffs and cave walls preserve the symbols and ideas of American Indian cultures. From scenes of human-to-animal transformations found in petroglyphs dating back thousands of years to contact-era depictions of eagle trapping, rock art provides a look at the history of the Black Hills country over the last ten thousand years. Storied Stone links rock art of the Black Hills and Cave Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming to the rich oral traditions, religious beliefs, and sacred places of the Lakota, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Mandan, and Hidatsa Indians who once lived there.

Drawing on more than twenty years of fieldwork, Linea Sundstrom identifies the chronological depth, stylistic variations, and multiple interpretations of petroglyphs and cliff paintings in this richly illustrated volume. Sundstrom describes the age, cultural affiliation, and meaning of a wide variety of petroglyphs and rock paintings—from warriors’ combat scenes and images related to girls’ puberty rites to depictions of creation myths and sacred visions.