The on-line Rock Art Database that you can access from this Website is a prototype of a larger database that will be available in the near future. The prototype database provides information on individual rock art elements rather than on rock art sites. To prevent vandalism, no site location information is included. The database contains images and several data fields for more than 150 rock art elements in Arkansas. We are adding new records to this database each week in the hope that it will become an increasingly valuable resource for archeologists, students and teachers, and the general public.

Since information on Arkansas rock art was not collected in a central repository before this project, we had to go back to original publications, field notes, and other archival sources to assemble the records needed to build the database. These records contain a more comprehensive range of information than what we are making available in the prototype database. The comprehensive record set will become a permanent part of the Arkansas Archeological Survey's AMASDA database system, which is available to qualified researchers through the Survey Registrar's Office. An enhanced subset of this information will be made available in future versions of the on-line Rock Art Database.

Some of the images in the Rock Art Database are not as clear as we wish they were. Most of the images were scanned from existing color slides and black and white prints which generally were not taken for the purpose of illustrating individual elements. Arrows have been added where necessary to identify specific elements. Most images are cropped but otherwise unaltered. We are replacing images in the database as we revisit key sites to acquire better photographs.

The largest number of images in the database represent prehistoric Native American examples from rock shelter sites. Searching the database on those categories will return the largest number of records although there are a few examples of other rock art categories and types.

Check out the Activities under the Resources section of this site for ideas and example projects for searching the Rock Art Database. Please contact us if you have comments or questions or if you wish to suggest new project ideas.

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