On the Harewood Plains Petroglyphs

These carvings used to be kind of secret – relatively unknown petroglyphs out in the Harewood Plains section of Extension Ridge.

Until recently, when people asked about rock art in Nanaimo, they were usually told about the other local petroglyphs, on nearby Gabriola Island and at Petrogylph Park just south of downtown.

Those better-known ones have been vandalized over the years, though, which invites us to consider the future of the Harewood Plains glyphs as they are increasingly exposed to the elements and the public.

(Some basic info about the Harewood Plains Petroglyphs.)

The Controversy: Preservation vs. Enjoyment

Those of us keen on telling people about the petroglyphs, have been reminded by other concerned parties about a certain truth: More public exposure for the petroglyphs means more opportunities for damage.

It's a confusing issue: when more of the public becomes interested in a resource, shouldn't that interest contribute to the protection of the resource? With enough people concerned, we should be able to get our governments' help to protect these glyphs.

But what would such protection look like?

We could put buildings overtop and pay someone to attend to them by day and to lock up at night. But that is expensive and also removes much of the contextual charm of the carvings. That idea is unlikely to get support.

A kiosk near the spot, or enclosure by railings, would be cheap and would protect the petroglyphs from hikers and bikers who would otherwise tread on them unknowingly. However, that would not protect them from vandalism. In fact, it may attract vandals who would otherwise ignore the glyphs.

So it appears that the question is whether there is a way to promote the petroglyphs to parties who are genuinely interested in them, while rendering them less conspicuous to vandals.

Perhaps it's simply a matter of promoting them in locations less likely to be visited by vandals (on websites, for example), and letting them remain inconspicuous in the field. Vandals might not Google "nanaimo petroglyphs", but they certainly hang out near the powerlines.

One problem however, is that vandalism is often committed by the people who care about the petroglyphs. Some visitors like to take a rock and "make the glyph more visible" by scoring the lines deeper into the rock. Others, concerned about preservation or simply interested in collecting treasure, figure the petroglyphs might be better off above their own fireplace.

Because of all this, it has been suggested that there is no way to promote the petroglyphs without contributing to their destruction.

Protect the Petroglyphs at any Cost?

Many of us believe that the petroglyphs should be preserved for future generations of experts to study. If our descendants find new methods for learning about the glyphs and their creators, it will be a shame if they are too late to employ those methods. Because the carvings have value for every future generation of Vancouver Islanders, it is wrong for us to "enjoy them to death".

So maybe the best thing to do is to make a sacrifice. Maybe we should cover them over, like what happened in the interior of British Columbia when petroglyphs under a hydro right-of-way were being threatened by human activity and natural erosion (a bulldozer driver bragged about having added his own flourish to the existing glyphs). Those glyphs were covered with sand, I believe, and then soil and foliage, in a community effort. Of course, they were documented up the yin-yang before being covered, and the scientific community knows how to find them again.

Perhaps we should do the same?

You can comment below right now, or you could read more opinions (and register to post your own) about the destruction and preservation of the Harewood Plains petroglyphs on our forum:
Destruction of Petroglyphs

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