The Eclipse Petroglyph

Among the petroglyphs at Horsethief Lake is one that has always caused me to wonder. Of course the site is home to the famous Tsagaglalal or She-Who-Watches image. This is not the one I refer to, rather a somewhat smaller and usually overlooked image.

Eclipse Petroglyph at Horsethief Lake
Eclipse Petroglyph at Horsethief Lake
To me this petroglyph is obviously a total solar eclipse.

To my eye the image is clearly that of the solar corona surrounding the black shadow of the Moon against the Sun. The image is all the more striking to me personally… In 1979 I witnessed a total solar eclipse, my first, just a short distance from here, from the bluffs above Maryhill.

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