An Important Pictograph from Tramping Lake, Manitoba (GeMa-1), Now Gone.

A pair of unusual rock paintings at the Tramping Lake site (GeMa-1), Manitoba, are described and illustrated, and previous inaccurate recordings of their appearance are corrected. One of the paintings has been lost some time between 1965 and 1988 through natural weathering. Its significance in relation to the rest of the rock paintings of the Canadian Shield is discussed in concert with the enormous difficulties latter-day observers face in regard to identification and classification (let alone interpretation) of this and many other of the images found in the Canadian Shield (also known as Northern Woodland) rock art region. Several hypotheses about what the pair of paintings may represent are advanced. Finally, the importance of accurate recording of in situ pictographs as they face being lost to vandalism and erosion is emphasized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]