Petroglyphs and Security

The computer and software industry is increasingly turning its attention to security issues. Michael Chertoff, Homeland Security Secretary, recently said that "The potential consequences of a cyber attack are very real and every bit as concerning as the potential of a physical attack on the order of what we saw on September 11". Redmond Developer May 1, 2008

Awareness of this reality has called my mind to the security issues that were faced by those artisans who did the petroglyph's thousands of year ago. Animals, infections, weather, climate, stupity, and angry people would seem have been among the real threats. Strange as it may seem, apparently there was no threat to the messages they were inscribing on the rock. Even more remarkable is the obvious conclusion that over thousands of years no one has gone to the trouble of destroying the rock surface. Either it was just too much work or the point of doing the destruction was not in vogue.

Today business ventures, governments, media, religions, the military and the arts depend on electronic communication using the silicon in computer chips. The silicon has been mined from the earth surface and formed into machines that work using electricity to manipulate numbers and symbols in order to transmit meaning. Rock has been fabricated to enable meaning to fly through space. In earlier times the earth bound rock could not be poached or stolen by enemies so the messages were quite secure.

I believe this fact of life makes it all the more urgent to translate the meaning of petroglyph symbols. We may urgently need ideas that our ancestors had discovered and carved into the quartzite rock for the benefit of coming generations.

Petroglyphs on the Prairie

The Red Rock Prairie is near to the Petroglyph site. The tallgrass prairie that once covered vast areas has been reduced drastically with one tenth of one percent of Minnesota's original prairies remaining. The Red Rock ridge prairie area is one the survivors. Outcrops of Sioux Quartzite prevented the land from being plowed and planted to crops.

An endangered species, prairie bush clover, is found at Red Rock Prairie. Prairie bush clover can be identified by its grayish-silver sheen and its pale pink or cream colored flowers that bloom in mid-July. Several other endangered plant species continue to exist and thrive at this prairie.

Restoration of the Red Rock Prairie was completed in 2007. The Nature Conservatory has taken the lead in the restoration process. Further information is on the Nature Conservatory website.

The prairie landscape is of a piece with the petroglyphs in that the the artist creators were influenced by the entire natural scene. Understanding the meaning of the glyphs and their creators involves coming to know and appreciate the ecosystem in which they operated some 5 to 9 thousand years ago. Since no recorded explanations are provided we are putting together the scene and will gradually enter the mindset of the people of the time. The glyphs call us to the task. Fortunately nature provides us with the makings of an unfolding tale.