Michael Fuller
Normal and dStretch (filter YBK) image of a bird painted in black pigment, most likely a pe-ton (Osage, "crane" and the name of a clan within the Osage social structure - most likely part of the Tsi-shu moiety) based on better examples from Picture Cave. The term pe-ton is found in LaFlesch (1932:127, 245).
Rock art identification is very subjective! The other possibility is that this was another in-gthon-ga (Osage, Panther/Puma). My first impression was a bird, but studying the dStretch image bring up the possibility of a Panther. No scale in either photograph because of the precarious location of this pictograph. It is approximately 20 cm. or more in length.
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Possibly one of the oldest pictographs in Missouri was recognized by Neathery Batsell Fuller while examining the ceiling of 23MT2. The faded red pictograph and dStretch image (filter YRE) appear to show a figure wearing a feather in its hair with a bird wing and hands. Single feather figures do show up in Mississippian pictographs at sites such as Painted Rock (23OS5) along the Osage River. Scale is 50 cm.
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LaFlesche, Francis
1932. A Dictionary of the Osage Language. Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC.
Normal and dStretch (filter YRE) images of red pigment pictographs that resemble several pictographs from the Cactus Cove Pictograph site (23WN1156). One interpretation is that these could be lodges/lean-tos. No scale is in the photograph because of the precarious location of the pictographs.
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Color digital image and dStretch (filter YBK) image of a four-legged creature with a long tail painted in black pigment. It is most likely a in-gthon-ga (Osage, Panther/Puma and the name of a clan within the Hon-ga moiety) like the example at Turtle Shelter Rock Art Site (23CY554). The term in-gthon-ga is found in LaFlesch (1932:75-6, 302).
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Telephoto taken during 2014 of the black pictograph. There is no scale because of its high and precarious position; approximately 20 cm. in length.
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The G pictograph site (23MT2) is one of several rock art site located North of the Missouri River in the lower part of the valley. It shares rock art motifs that closely resemble some of the Mississippian pictographs at Picture Cave (23WN79), Cactus Cove Pictograph site (23WN1156), Turtle Shelter Rock Art Site (23CY554), and the Groeper Shelter (23WN1177).
Telephoto taken during 2021 of the black pigment pictograph.
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G Pictograph Site (23MT2)