Exploring Rock Art: A North American Field Trip

PC version requires:
Windows 95+, 100 MHz+, 16 Mb RAM, 4xCD-ROM

Mac version requires:
PowerPC, Sys 7.5.3+, 16 Mb RAM, 4xCD-ROM

Description:

The trip starts with an introduction to the earliest Americans' spread through the continent, leaving paintings and carvings behind them as rock art. The background music is haunting. There are choices to: Explore Rock Art sites; perform Research; or Create a Museum. There is also a button which gives immediate access to 18 activities including those to make a clay tablet and paint a pictograph, carve a petroglyph, make paint and a brush, make a folding book, or create a slide show.

There are 5 major regions to explore for Rock Art sites - NorthWest, Northern Woodlands, the Columbia Basin, SouthWest and Baja California. Each is accessed via a region map. The art is displayed and introduced and a Field Guide entry is available with information on what is known of its origins. The Guide also includes fascinating accounts of some European explorers' first impressions of the art, and legends associated with it, for example the Tlingit 'Raven Creates the World'. A journal can be created and entries added on the sites visited (photos can be printed and glued or drawings made of the art).

Research gains entry to the 'Natural History Museum' and a display (with images and audio) on the Rock Art of California. There is also a research library, where you can explore rock art sites on the Internet (this did not work on my machine), try a Mix and Match game, and play songs. Informative books to be read include a Rock Art Bibliography, Science of Rock Art, ABC of Rock Art Symbols, and Rock Art Sites of N. America that can be visited (this included a site at Bon Echo Park in Ontario where we camped with the kids and canoed and hiked to see the art).

The museum also has a section which is a Studio for activities, also accessed by picking Create a Museum at the top level. This includes a list of activities to make a home or classroom rock art museum, as well as directions for specific activities like painting a rock, a sandpaper collage or making pictograph stamps. There is also a mural painting activity - answer questions on the rock art sites visited and a mural is painted before your eyes.

Features:

• 5 major regions
• 28 rock art sites
• 10 crafts
• Printable journal
• Internet research links
• Troubleshooting leaflet

Technical Aspects:

The program would not be suitable for someone with auditory difficulties, as much of the information is spoken only.

Report and Conclusions:

If you've ever visited one of these sites (or plan to), use this to explore this form of art in more depth. The title has once more aroused my own interest and I plan to look for more such sites for my own family to visit. This is also a program that I would recommend for school (or homeschool) use, combining language arts, history, art and (to a lesser degree) music in an engaging format. Use it for virtual field trips and plan some real ones in your area as well.