kensuhh

Give him a trophy,and a participation medal.

Ka2azman Loc: Tucson, Az

Yesterdays graffiti is today's petroglyphs! No snarky intent meant. Just a simple truth.

amyinsparta Loc: White county, TN

AMEN AND AMEN!!!

amyinsparta Loc: White county, TN

Yes, how interesting that those with white skin, who were responsible in the past for desecrating the great majority of native lands, native customs, and native burial places, complain and bitch about a young person disrespecting a NATIVE AMERICAN treasure . Its a little too late for that. Your wonderful president is already wanting to remove what little the native Americans have left. Look into your own heart before you start in on today's youth.

Cany143 Loc: SE Utah

I really appreciate your bringing this particular subject up --and including the pic that illustrates it--, BlueMorel. Many, not just in Utah, but all over the world, have actively sought ways to educate the public with regard to the ethics and etiquette of archaeological site visitation, and ineviteably, 90% of it is effective while 10% of it is not. Of that 10% that is not, 90% of any damage or defacement that takes place is done innocently by people (young AND old) who however much anyone tries, simply lacks the capability to learn that a preservation of the past is crucial to any understanding the present, much less of the future. The remaining few who go out of their way to destroy do so out of meanness and stupidity and greed.

A few misconceptions have been stated in this thread. First, these pictographs are of a type called the Barrier Canyon Style. Barrier Canyon was renamed as 'Horseshoe Canyon' after the Philips Petroleum Co, blasted out a 'road' that crossed the 'barrier' the canyon presented, and since 1971, the section of Horseshoe that contains the 'type site' of the style --The Great Gallery-- lies within Canyonlands National Park. The style was named by Polly Schaafsma, a researcher of rock art styles, based on photographs of some 18 similarly styled sites in the region. In the mid-'90's, physicist Marvin Rowe of Texas A&M University successfully AMS (accelerator mass spectrometry) dated pigment samples from Horseshoe Canyon and elsewhere, and came up with a proposed date range of 1850 BC through 10 AD, which is squarely in the Tertiary Archaic Period. In the early 2000's an Australian researcher sought to apply similar dating technology, but since he failed/forgot/whatever to inform the AMS facility at Woods Hole, MA, whether or not he'd applied a specific field procedure, the dates that resulted are invalid.

The 'Sego Canyon' rock art panel(s) shown in the image are actually in Thompson Canyon. They are literally 'on the map.' That area is administered by the Bureau of Land Management, not the Park Service. Up canyon a mile or so, Sego Canyon splits off and leads to a long deserted coal mining 'town' called 'Sego.' Miners, ranchers, shepherds and others have stopped in/passed through the area since the 1880's, and many inscribed their names and dates on and around the millennia years old paintings. In the early 1990s, funds were secured to 'conserve' the site (i.e., 'remove' or artfully 'hide' the modern inscriptions), and conservator Connie Silver was hired to do the project. A management plan was also put into place; that included the erection of the fencing in front of the main panels and interpretive signs, as well as other less obvious means of protection. It should be noted that wooden fences (and interpretive 'instructive' signage) of this type have been installed in many such places, and that they are considered 'psychological barriers,' not physical barriers. In this region, there are two BLM field rangers. Two individuals to patrol hundreds and hundreds of square miles. Do the math.

On the other side of the canyon, opposite the pictos in the photo, there is more rock art. Some time in the '90's a photographer built a large fire immediately in front of one of the ground-level panels. His purpose was to 'get a really special night-time shot' or some such thing. Yes, the shot is quite unique, but the potential for fire blackening, rock spalling, infusion of carbon into the pigment/rock face thus inalterably skewing any potential for future dating techniques, etc., not to mention it being 'a wrong use' of a place held sacred by certain Native American people. The same photographer did essentially the same thing a few years later in Arches National Park. Apart from the fine that was levied (to cover the costs of restoration of the place, nothing more), he was legally banned from the park. When I go to Delicate Arch, I can still see the spot he built his fire.

I have worked on ARPA (Archaeological Resource and Protection Act) cases of willful destruction. They are extremely difficult --short of a first-hand confession-- to prove in court. I have helped write the ethics and etiquette guidelines for State, Federal and International Rock Art and Archaeological organizations. Though now retired, I still serve as a Site Steward (though not at Sego). I've documented sites, written and spoken on the subject, and been made welcome in places few others have. In short, I've learned and tried to educate otherwise well-meaning people who might unknowingly cause damage to a beautiful and, to a certain degree, un-knowable part of a past. And I'm not alone, even though those of us who do likewise feel grossly outnumbered at times.

Placing blame on others, or presuming you know their age or upbringing or degree of wisdom or stupidity may feel good, but is fruitless. Learn and spread what you've learned. The best defense lies in asking the person who'd (probably unknowingly) cause harm is to ask: 'Did you like these paintings? find them mysterious? find them strangely beautiful? If so, would you hope your grandchildren, or maybe their grandchildren, will have the opportunity to feel some of the awe and wonder you feel? The place you're standing is part of the site, too, you know, so you might want to take a step back.'

BlueMorel Loc: Southwest Michigan

Thank you for the extra details and history of these and other petroglyphs. The knowledge enhances my experience, and I will be sharing with my grandchildren and great-grandchildren in a couple of weeks when I show them my photographs. I hope it will make an impression on them. How would we European-ancestry-based people react if Jamestown or Plymouth Rock or Lincoln Memorial, or, further back, Stonehenge, etc., were torn apart by visitors or mining companies (think Grand Escalante and Bear's Ears)? Someone in Arches hiked a difficult trail just to reach a remote arch and deeply engrave in large letters their name, "Andersen". The Park Service is filling in the damage, but it won't ever be the same.

Diocletian

Terrific analysis, description, and well-thought-out response. Thank you.

Could you please take this to Washington to educate the idiots in the White House so they don't sell off all our national parks?

BlueMorel Loc: Southwest Michigan

I don't think you understand that every unnecessary handprint on the rock below leaves oils that will hasten the deterioration of that rock, hastening what wind and water already do, and the petroglyphs will lose that part of their base. Do we really need to touch everything? Presuming there ARE people around in a thousand years, wouldn't it be nice if that rock were still there? That's why I stay on the trails. If you want to touch rock, there are plenty of other places.

hassighedgehog Loc: Corona, CA

Bet he wouldn't like a diagnosis of early onset Alzheimers. That was the behavior my father showed before he passed away. It manifested in the tendency to ignore no touching signs in museums etc.