St. Victor Petroglyphs?!?!?

The petroglyphs (or rock carvings) near St. Victor are one of Saskatchewan's prehistoric mysteries. No one knows exactly who carved them, why they were carved, or even when they were carved. All we can be certain of is that they provide us with clues to the lifestyle of a society that lived on Saskatchewan's plains hundreds of years ago, at a time pre-dating any of our written records.

How to find the carvings?

The rock carvings are found on the horizontal caprock of a sandstone bedrock outcropping (cliff) which overlooks the community of St. Victor.

The area surrounding the cliff is cut with coulees abundant with trees and wildlife. This natural abundance and panoramic view may have influenced the early residents to carve into the sandstone. The carvings are approximately 500 metres from the park entrance at the top of the cliffs.

When to see the petroglyphs and what you will see.

Due to the combined factors of the petroglyphs being located on a horizontal surface and being worn with time, it is difficult to see them on a cloudy day or when the sun is directly overhead.

The best time to view the petroglyphs is on a clear day from late afternoon to evening as the lower angle of the sun creates shadows. The shallow grooves of the carvings are greatly enhanced by the shadows, which help define and outline the shapes and provide better visibility.

Among the 300 petroglyphs found at St. Victor are human hand prints, grizzly bear tracks, several types of human heads, turtles and the tracks of several cloven hoofed animals such as bison, deer, elk or antelope. There are numerous glyphs which are simply not understood today, or which have been eroded to the point where the carving is no longer clear.

The placement of the carvings at St. Victor makes them unique. Most petroglyph sites are on the vertical sides of similar cliffs. St Victor, where the carvings are on the horizontal top of a cliff, is one of only five such sites in Canada. The other four sites are near Cranbrook, British Columbia; at Lake-of-the-Woods and Peterborough, Ontario; and Kejimkujik National Park in Nova Scotia. St. Victor Petroglyphs Provinical Historic Park is the only horizontal petroglyph site on the Canadian Plains.

When were the glyphs made?

The petroglyphs pre-date 1870, and where very likely carved before 1750 when the horse arrived on the northern plains. Horse hoof prints have not been found among the petroglyphs, nor has the carving of an entire horse. Because a number of the glyphs have been carved on top of one another, it may be that they have been carved over a period of years.

Who carved them?

It is possible that a number of different carvers worked at the St. Victor site, due to the fact that some of the glyphs have been superimposed on others. The carvings of human heads at St. Victor resemble other petroglyphs and archaeological material connected with the early Siouan-speaking cultures. There is also speculation that the carvers at St. Victor may have been ancestors of the modern Sioux and Assiniboine people. The shaman, or medicine men, of these early tribes may have been the carvers.

How were the carvings done?

The ancient carvers employed a "pecking and grinding" technique. Using a quart size chisel and a hammer stone, they pecked the rough outline out of the rock. They then used a slender piece of wood, some water, and sand to grind and smooth out the rough edges and bumps.

Why were they carved?

When we consider the amount of time and effort taken to complete the carvings at St. Victor, it quickly becomes apparent that the carving of these symbols was very important to the ancient cultures who carved them. What is still unknown is why they were carved. Perhaps the glyphs were part of a ritual of the medicine men, or Shaman. Perhaps they were an attempt to control the herds of bison. Perhaps they were a record of the number of animals killed in a hunt. Perhaps they are symbols of clan totems.

The mysterious reason for these carvings can only be unravelled through further study and archeological research into this, and other pre-historic sites in western North America. Today, we can only look and wonder over their creation.