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Alberta Online Encyclopedia

View of Writing-On_Stone

For hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years, people drawn to Writing-On-Stone's ethereal beauty have left signs of their passing, sometimes carving or painting on the soft sandstone figures such as those to the right, commemorating a successful hunt or battle. Most of this precious rock art can now be seen only by guided tour.

Erosion is the architect of this phantasmagoria. Raging glacial meltwater laid the groundwork 11,000 years ago, but wind and rain, freezing and thawing, have carried on the task ever since.

Photo courtesy of Heartland Associates, Inc.
Photo by Peter St. John and Dennis Pankiw.

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