Kincaid Shelter

Ancient artisans were at work at Kincaid throughout much of its history. They selected flat pebbles on which to engrave intricate patterns and make odd scratchings—designs that puzzle us today and cause us to ponder their meaning and significance. Some of the work is finely executed with parallel lines, grids, concentric circles, cross hatching, and other geometric patterns.

Other designs—particularly the marks on red and yellow ocher cobbles—appear more random, as if someone scratched the surfaces repeatedly and from different angles. Unlike the engraved objects, these "scratched" stones likely were not "works of art," as we understand the concept, but rather the "ingredients" of art. Scratching ocher stone with a sharp tool or crushing small ocher nodules produces a fine, pigment-rich powder that—with a few added ingredients such as animal fat—becomes paint. Working with a brilliantly hued palette of reds, oranges and yellows, artists could paint designs on hides, small pebbles, and cave walls, as well as bodies and faces.

There are other odd stones at Kincaid that apparently were used for more practical purposes. Several large, flat pebbles have random marks suggesting that rather than pigment extraction, the stones were used as a hard surface for cutting soft materials. And a number of curious, small, flat limestone pebbles appear to be unmodified, devoid of any markings at all. The stones are chiefly Edwards limestone, which does not naturally occur in the shelter (Anacacho limestone formation). Clearly, prehistoric workers gathered these small pebbles from the river gravels and brought them into the shelter. Were these blank "canvasses" stockpiled for future artistry? Or were some once painted with special designs that have faded away with time and weathering.

As you look at the various types of stones, below, perhaps you will have your own ideas about their meaning and significance. As will become evident, the stones cannot be neatly classified; some clearly were used for one or more different types of practical tasks, while others were more esoteric and served purposes we cannot know. For a closer look, images can be clicked on to view enlarged versions and, in some cases, the reverse sides of artifacts. In some images, contrast has been heightened to capture more detail.

Many of the engraved and scratched stones as well as a quantity of the pigment stones from Kincaid were found in Zone 5, a few were from Zone 6, but there were many others found in disturbed fill, making it impossible to infer a relative time period for their production. Based on information from other sites, however, it appears that art in many forms was significant to prehistoric peoples, from the Paleolithic painters of the Old World to the most ancient Texans.

All of the specimens shown are curated in TARL Collections, available for examination by qualified researchers.

Engraved Stones

Creating an engraved work of art must have been far more difficult than painting a pebble with a brush. The close work would have required a very sharp tool, such as a chipped stone graver, as well as good eyes and a steady hand.

Perhaps for that reason, engraved stones are rare in Texas. Yet, interestingly, there are strong similarities in design motifs even within the small assemblage of known specimens.

The concentric circle motif, shown on specimens at top right and below left, is nearly identical to that on an engraved pebble found in Val Verde county. And there is a counterpart for this design in a painted version, seen on some of the painted pebbles of the Lower Pecos. Stones with painted concentric circles and rayed lines were found at the base of Fate Bell Shelter and the base of Eagle Cave in Val Verde County. Click to see examples from other sites.

Archeologist and ethnohistorian Shirley Mock believes the concentric circle pattern is an ancient design drawn from myths and legends of the Southwest focused on the spider and a recurring character known as Spider Grandmother. In her 1987 thesis on painted pebble designs Mock explains the myth further: "By spinning ropes , Spider Grandmother was able to fasten the sky and earth together. Among the Plains Indians Spider Grandmother wove a magical spider-web by which she was able to control and produce buffalo."

In his stylistic study of painted pebbles from the Lower Pecos, archeologist Mark Parsons placed the circle motif chronologically at the beginning of his sequence, dating perhaps to 8500 B.P.

As T.N. Campbell has noted, "It is clear that the designs on both painted and engraved pebbles were taken from the same design pool, as is shown by cross-hatched surfaces, various arrangements of parallel lines, and stylized female figures."

Quite different and far earlier examples have been unearthed at the Gault site in Bell County. There archeologist Michael Collins and his team have recovered finely engraved pebbles from Clovis and later contexts. A single engraved stone was found in early Paleoindian contexts at the Wilson-Leonard site, and another in the Blackwater Draw Folsom component. These are among the earliest, securely dated engravings—and perhaps the first art—in North America.

There are few reported sites in the area with such an abundance of pigment materials as was found at Kincaid Shelter. Campbell, who reviewed ethnographic and archeological records in conjunction with his Kincaid study, noted that even the dry rock shelter sites of far west Texas, with their painted pebbles and pictographs, did not have comparable variety and abundance of evidence. He notes:

The Kincaid data suggests a special interest in painting other than in rock art, which is minimally represented at the site. One thinks immediately of body painting, especially in connection with ceremonial activities.

A further possibility, Campbell suggests, is use of pigment for the painting of bison and deer hides. In the early 16th century, the missionary Espinosa wrote of Indians (possibly Coahuiltecan) just south of the Edwards Plateau and their use of pigments. In his description of trade between Indians and Spaniards at colonial settlements near present-day Guerrero, Coahuila, Espinosa listed dressed skins of bison and deer, many painted with designs, among the commodities. The missionary writes:

The women are trained to cure and tan the hides of buffalo and deer. These they curiously painted to trade to the Spaniards... . The red and yellow dirt with which the Indians paint their hides...is hard. (Father Espinosa's accounts were translated by Gabriel Tous and published in 1930.)

In the dry rock shelters of the western Edwards Plateau, archeologists have recovered a few small pieces of dressed animal skin with traces of painted decoration. Unfortunately, the damp conditions at Kincaid Shelter would have destroyed such perishable material and most other evidence of painted art work.

Evidence from other sites suggests other uses for ocher, including an ingredient in mastic for hafting stone points on weapons and tools. Ocher also has been found in many burials at sites across the world, suggesting a ceremonial or symbolic meaning.

Painted and Paint-covered Stones

A few ocher-splotched and stained cobbles and a long pebble with only a shadow of its design remaining are other evidence of pigment production and painting at Kincaid. The stained cobbles may be the result of a careless painter or pigment maker; two have scratch marks and smoothed surfaces, indicating additional functions.

A single specimen bears very faded, painted geometric lines, as shown in this 1950s photo from the TARL archives (left). It is, perhaps, a faint reminder that other art was executed at Kincaid but has not survived the passage of time in the damp shelter deposits