ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with biographic and historic event rock art. The various forms of rock art on the Northern Plains, the most important to historic and contemporary Crow people are the incised petroglyphs and painted pictographs containing narrative statements. The first type of images are commonly termed biographic warrior art and in Crow Country are usually located on sandstone cliffs and buttes along major historic trails and watercourses. Historic event images are also located on sandstone cliffs, typically in or near the area where the event occurred. Not far from the Crying Face is the first archaeologically investigated rock art site in Montana: Pictograph Cave. At other Northern Plains rock art sites created over time, the narrative or biographic rock art also marks the transition from the protohistoric to the historic period. Biographic writing was painted on robes, tipi linings, and paper as well as rock surfaces.
