The 'Rasta Man' site is located on a cliff wall above a sloping shelf that sits some 200' above a rose colored chert and milky white chalcedony strewn graben valley below. Though there are a dozen or so 'Barrier Canyon Style' Archaic rock art sites in the immediate vicinity --and as many as 200+ other known sites on the Colorado Plateau that express the same set of stylistic and iconographic characteristics generally-- the 'Rasta Man' site is highly unusual. One 'norm' for sites of this type is that they're located almost universally along routes that pass from one resource area to another, almost in billboard fashion, and were meant to be seen by anyone passing by. The 'Rasta Man' site is not similarly located; access is difficult; there's only one way in and one way out on that high bench. I know of only four other sites that share this same degree of isolation.
There are three loci --or sub panels-- at the site. The images shown are in reverse order relative to what a person would see first, then second, then third. It should go without saying the highly colorful images/details have been digitally enhanced in order that the iconography and the otherwise barely discernable details can be better seen. Part of that enhancement was accomplished with the assistance of a plug-in (called D-Stretch [by Jon Harmon], a plug-in for the open source image editing program called 'Image-J') developed for the express purpose of 'revealing' the difficulties and differences between pigment values and base rock color values often encountered at prehistoric pictograph sites. The images here are part of the IMACS site recording paperwork on file with State and Federal agencies, that documentation intended for use in assisting site monitoring and management.
The enhanced versions are also kinda pretty, I think, in their unique and colorful way. Despite this being essentially documentary photography.
Cany, this is a very interesting post and nicely photographed, in addition.
--Bob
Cany143 wrote:
The 'Rasta Man' site is located on a cliff wall above a sloping shelf that sits some 200' above a rose colored chert and milky white chalcedony strewn graben valley below. Though there are a dozen or so 'Barrier Canyon Style' Archaic rock art sites in the immediate vicinity --and as many as 200+ other known sites on the Colorado Plateau that express the same set of stylistic and iconographic characteristics generally-- the 'Rasta Man' site is highly unusual. One 'norm' for sites of this type is that they're located almost universally along routes that pass from one resource area to another, almost in billboard fashion, and were meant to be seen by anyone passing by. The 'Rasta Man' site is not similarly located; access is difficult; there's only one way in and one way out on that high bench. I know of only four other sites that share this same degree of isolation.
There are three loci --or sub panels-- at the site. The images shown are in reverse order relative to what a person would see first, then second, then third. It should go without saying the the highly colorful images/details have been digitally enhanced in order that the iconography and the otherwise barely discernable details can be better seen. Part of that enhancement was accomplished with the assistance of a plug-in (called D-Stretch [by Jon Harmon], a plug-in for the open source image editing program called 'Image-J') developed for the express purpose of 'revealing' the difficulties and differences between pigment values and base rock color values often encountered at prehistoric pictograph sites. The images here are part of the IMACS site recording paperwork on file with State and Federal agencies, that documentation intended for use in assisting site monitoring and management.
The enhanced versions are also kinda pretty, I think, in their unique and colorful way. Despite this being essentially documentary photography.
The 'Rasta Man' site is located on a cliff wall ab... (
show quote)
Cany, did you notice that there is something rather ALIEN in these depictions of humanoids and the objects hovering around them? Nice captures!
GES wrote:
Cany, did you notice that there is something rather ALIEN in these depictions of humanoids and the objects hovering around them? Nice captures!
'Other-worldly' I'd agree with; 'Alien' not so much.
WOW! Very, very interesting. Thx.
If those aren't flying saucers in 2, 3 and 4, I don't know what is! Beautiful set. Thanks.
joecichjr
Loc: Chicago S. Suburbs, Illinois, USA
Cany143 wrote:
The 'Rasta Man' site is located on a cliff wall above a sloping shelf that sits some 200' above a rose colored chert and milky white chalcedony strewn graben valley below. Though there are a dozen or so 'Barrier Canyon Style' Archaic rock art sites in the immediate vicinity --and as many as 200+ other known sites on the Colorado Plateau that express the same set of stylistic and iconographic characteristics generally-- the 'Rasta Man' site is highly unusual. One 'norm' for sites of this type is that they're located almost universally along routes that pass from one resource area to another, almost in billboard fashion, and were meant to be seen by anyone passing by. The 'Rasta Man' site is not similarly located; access is difficult; there's only one way in and one way out on that high bench. I know of only four other sites that share this same degree of isolation.
There are three loci --or sub panels-- at the site. The images shown are in reverse order relative to what a person would see first, then second, then third. It should go without saying the highly colorful images/details have been digitally enhanced in order that the iconography and the otherwise barely discernable details can be better seen. Part of that enhancement was accomplished with the assistance of a plug-in (called D-Stretch [by Jon Harmon], a plug-in for the open source image editing program called 'Image-J') developed for the express purpose of 'revealing' the difficulties and differences between pigment values and base rock color values often encountered at prehistoric pictograph sites. The images here are part of the IMACS site recording paperwork on file with State and Federal agencies, that documentation intended for use in assisting site monitoring and management.
The enhanced versions are also kinda pretty, I think, in their unique and colorful way. Despite this being essentially documentary photography.
The 'Rasta Man' site is located on a cliff wall ab... (
show quote)
Beautiful and very informative
Thank you
I always enjoy your rock art posts, Jim, and this is one of your best!
lacsar
Loc: Columbia SC and Newland NC
Are the ages of these paintings known? Great photo's, I would love to see the paintings in person.
RichKenn wrote:
If those aren't flying saucers in 2, 3 and 4, I don't know what is! Beautiful set. Thanks.
Don't know a whole lot about flying saucers, but the literal, figurative, and/or symbolic expression of rain is seen depicted in a third or more of the 200+ known BCS sites. Birds (as seen here, while elsewhere, antelope, big horn sheep, and/or apparently 'imaginary' sorts of animal figures) commonly 'attend' --or can be seen hovering along side or above-- various anthropomorphic figures. There's a site relatively close by that's less weathered than this site is, and there birds have been rendered
beautifully that incorporate fletching on wings and tails using 'brushes' (maybe yucca? maybe something else? who knows?) and the birds are less than an inch across.
lacsar wrote:
Are the ages of these paintings known? Great photo's, I would love to see the paintings in person.
No, the age of these paintings is not known, per se. Pigment samples from sites of this 'Style' elsewhere have been tested and assessed through either of several means, and some associative archaeology (testing of more easily datable cultural materials) has likewise been done. Very generally speaking, 'dates' have been assigned to the Mid and Late Archaic, or 2500 bc to 1 ad.
lacsar
Loc: Columbia SC and Newland NC
Cany143 wrote:
No, the age of these paintings is not known, per se. Pigment samples from sites of this 'Style' elsewhere have been tested and assessed through either of several means, and some associative archaeology (testing of more easily datable cultural materials) has likewise been done. Very generally speaking, 'dates' have been assigned to the Mid and Late Archaic, or 2500 bc to 1 ad.
Thanks Cany143, I was just curious.
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