Parc Archeologique des Roches Gravées

Trying to find some trace of pre-European civilization we stumbled upon the Parc archeologiques des Roches Gravées (Archeological Park of carved stones). They boasted over 600 engravings throughout the park, the most dense concentration in all the Antilles, and so we were surprised to be the only visitors. Little did we know, that after exploring for a few hours, climbing over rocks, looking everywhere for clues all we would find was a tree with really impressive roots.

Finally we noticed a few petroglyphs which were too faint to photograph and this one by the entrance, which had a big arrow pointing to it. It looks kind of like a family portrait I did in kindergarten. I guess, those Caraibes were too busy devouring each other to cultivate their artistic talent...or maybe if they hadn't been wiped out by the French colonists...

It's not very culturally informative, but the park is a haunting place. It's easy to imagine the island in its pre-explorer days when the forest was denser and quieter, and makes me wonder about the purpose of creating these petroglyphs- did the people who carved the images know that these symbols would become one of the only traces of their life on this island? Were they trying to leave their mark?