https://iowaarchaeology.tumblr.com/post/95100440756/fromtherepository-real-or-fake-newly-discovered (Copy and paste this link for the article accompanying the above image from Iowa.)
What do these two similar bear carvings suggest? Luckily for me, I have not solidly set my viewpoint one way or the other. In fact, I only became aware of the bear carving in far eastern Iowa very recently on Facebook, thanks to a couple of warm well-wishers. Thanks!
However, my viewpoint about the Copper Harbor petroglyph of a sailing ship, seen below, has not been diminished or negatively affected by news of this association between two similar-appearing bear petroglyphs in two far apart locations. For several reasons, I choose to continue thinking that the Norse Sailing Ship carving is genuinely medieval...and possibly even connected to the era of Vinland and the Kensington Runestone in some way. As an aside, I don't think this obviously Norse vessel is in any way associated with a proposed much earlier overseas copper trade.
But now, the question remains: Who carved the two similar bear petroglyphs at Copper Harbor, Michigan and in Dubuque County, Iowa? It seems on the surface that we're confronted with three choices: either the petroglyphs--including the sailing boat--were made by a Native American (or Native Americans), or by a Norseman (or Norsemen) , or by an early white settler (or settlers).
One other possibility is that someone saw what were considered to be "authentic" carvings at Copper Harbor, and at some time decided to carve a similar bear petroglyph in Dubuque County, Iowa. But again, would this have been a Native American, a Norseman, or an early white settler?
Lots of questions suddenly pop up. For instance, would a Norseman have made the Iowa bear's accompanying markings? Another question: Could a Native American have made these carvings without iron?
For now, I do have a nagging suspicion that the two bear carvings and the sailing ship carving may have all been made by traveling Norsemen, based on speculation that Norsemen did likely visit the state of Iowa back in medieval times--at least in far northwest Iowa. The Dubuque County site may be another story.
Though I'm pushing seventy, I try to make an occasional field trip instead of being a total armchair explorer. In this vein, I have been to both Copper Harbor and to Iowa, searching for answers.
I made a trip to Sioux Rapids a few years ago in response to the below newspaper article from 2012. The article is not available online, but I have photographed the several pages with the hope that you can read them okay with some effort. There's a lot of frankly dumb stuff within the pages of the 2012 article from Storm Lake Pilot Tribune...like about "mooring stones," and I had to block out some private information from the first page of the article. You may need to overlook the article's general goofiness in order to see that the Norse probably were in Iowa during medieval times...and yes, this could possibly help to explain the bear petroglyph in Dubuque County, Iowa.
Perhaps a Native American at Copper Harbor did see a Norse sailing ship and somehow managed to carve a likeness of it, along with a bear, and then continued on to carve another similar bear down in Iowa. Not likely! But it also seems bizarre to think that an early white settler from that period would travel to both Copper Harbor and Dubuque County, Iowa, and carve all the petroglyphs. Anyway, the so-called "bear coincidence" makes for a good puzzle--at least for now.
I took some photos of a few medieval Norse-appearing stoneholes while in Iowa, and when I returned, I came to realize--through some waterway research--that the Big Sioux River originates just across the Minnesota border, in South Dakota--where a lot of Norse evidences show up. Then the Big Sioux River runs all the way south to the Missouri River, where it empties close to where the Little Sioux River empties, too--this not being far from where there were multiple reports of some slightly triangular-shaped stoneholes. Mostly, I wanted to find the reported "fish" petroglyph and, if possible, the reported circle of rocks. But as it happened, some of life's upsets occurred to a few of the local researchers at the time, and I had to cut my trip short without finding or seeing much. I'd like to return and take another look.
Of note, it appears that the similar style of carving for the two Copper Harbor petroglyphs probably reflects the likelihood that the two carvings were made by the same person, using the same technique. The carvings--including the bear in Iowa--are all "filled in" with a series of lines, making the style somewhat unique. The two carvings at Copper Harbor are not far apart, either, so that a strong link is made between them, besides the style of carving.
Readers, thankfully, we are all free to form our own opinions; we can have our own personal viewpoints and speculations--based on mere clues, if not much else. As for myself at this point, I don't understand this "bear" coincidence at all...its a real puzzler. But here's an article to suggest that Scandinavians probably visited Iowa in pre-Columbus times, as an extention out of Vinland...as with the Kensington Runestone expedition.
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