Deep Rock Art

Boszhardt, Robert F.
2003 Deep Cave Art in the Upper Mississippi Valley. Prairie Smoke Press, St. Paul, Minnesota.

Caves, especially those parts of caves into which no light seeps, are dangerous, dank, mysterious places that only a very few courageous human souls actually enjoy visiting. Caves, unlike almost any other geological marvel, are very few people’s cup of tea. From Plato to Mark Twain, caves inhabit our darkest literary efforts, as universally human places of birth, rebirth, and mysticism. Don’t ya think?

So I suppose it’s no surprise that art from such deep cave sites is of dark fascination to us. Art drawn in the faint glimmer of torches, where few people dare to invade strikes a chord among most of us that stretches from the paintings at Lascaux in France through the carvings at Koonalda Cave in Australia and now, to Tainter and Larsen caves of Wisconsin in the Midwestern United States.

Deep Cave Art, a new book by Robert Boshardt from Prairie Smoke Press, presents new findings on the deep cave art of the Driftless Area of southwestern Wisconsin, specifically that found in Tainter and Larsen Caves. Written in an eminently approachable style, Deep Cave Art explores Boszhardt’s fascination with rock art and how he stumbled into a field of interest that he initially had no leanings toward at all.

This book is clearly intended for a general audience. Generous line drawings accompany the text, which includes an introduction to the cultural history of southwestern Wisconsin, and a detailed description of the drawings within the caves, their multiple possible meanings, and the artifacts and other evidence supporting the dating and interpretations. Whether by design or accident, although it is clear that members of the Native American community were consulted for the report, little information is given on their interpretations of the rock art. It’s possible that the Ho-Chunk preferred not to provide their ideas of what the rock art meant for public dissemination.

Deep Cave Art is an essential for people interested in rock art, in the American middle west, and in researchers into the mysteries of deep caves.