The Tortoise and The Hare

Back in 2005, I decided to take a walk in the fields of our farm. The soil was dug up because some tile drains were being installed and I thought that, with a bit of luck, I might find an arrowhead. In retrospect, I realize that, with today's heavy machinery, the odds of finding something as delicate as an arrowhead were slim-to-none.

Looking back, I can't explain the impulse that urged me to put on my boots and set out on this search nor can I explain why, in this vast field, I happened to look down to the ground at that particular moment, but when I did, I saw a rabbit or rather, a small stone in the shape of a rabbit. I bent down, picked it up and brushed the dirt off it. Upon closer examination, I could see more detail: indents for the eyes, ears, legs and nose. It was subtle, but there was no doubt in my mind as to what it was.

 

 

Then, as I was returning to the house and edging closer to the end of the field, I happened to notice an unusual stone. I remember that something about it caught my eye, but I didn't really recognize what I was looking at. It was only after I picked it up that I realized that it looked like a turtle.

Those finds marked the beginning of an unexpected journey for me. After this episode, I contacted a local archaeologist. He gave me the name of a person who could verify whether these stones were or were not artifacts. The fellow took a quick glance at them and informed me that they weren't although he admitted the turtle was "interesting."

 

A period of confusion followed. To my eyes, these stones were so clearly a rabbit and turtle. How was it that I could see this and yet, this man could not? From time to time, I continued to walk in the fields although the focus of my search was that of native tools. Surely, someone had walked on the land prior to our family purchasing it in the mid-1800's? Wasn't it possible that they left some trace behind in the form of stone tools?

However, it wasn't until I stumbled across the website Archaeology of Portable Rock Art that I had my epiphany: rather than looking for tools, I should be searching for rock art. With its wealth of photos and details, this website taught me how to recognize it. Armed with this new information, I began to find similar examples in our fields.

Do I have proof that these are examples of art made by a human hand? No, but it makes sense to me that if ancient man was creating art on cave walls in France, his counterpart here in Southwestern Ontario might have turned a rock over in his hand and saw something familiar in that stone. Wasn't it Michelangelo who said, "I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free?" Couldn't early man have seen human faces, birds and animals in the stones around him and done something similar with the tools of his time? There are no paper records to tell us if that is the case.

That is what I am finding: birds, animals and human faces; often more than one of these motifs in any given stone. Precisely the kind of images that would have been a natural part of ancient man's world.

I don't pretend to be an expert in this subject, but I do trust my own eyes. Maybe one day, archaeologists will catch up to the amateurs and make a proper study of it. In the meantime, I just plan to post photos without a lot of commentary, document what I've found and in my own small way, pay tribute to those who walked on the land before us.