Cany143 wrote:
Some years ago, I was asked to write a piece about rock art for an NPS publication. The following is what got published:
Reading Rock Art
If you travel the canyons of the American Southwest, you are sure to see figures carved or painted on rock faces. These include abstractions like spirals and dots, or more recognizable forms like animals, humans and handprints. Whatever they represent, these curious figures provoke within most people the desire to understand.
For lack of a better term, we call it “rock art,” but these images are more than mere adornments hung on the landscape. They are communications between people, written not with letters but with visceral, vital imagery. And if we look closely and compare different rock art panels, themes and characteristics emerge, as well as something on the edge of comprehension. A figure on horseback suggests a relatively recent date of production. The portrayal of an atlatl recalls a much older archaic period. A line of ghostly figures holding snakes with birds or other animals hovering above them may suggest an otherworldly experience. In effect, the odd figures convey the social, economic and religious concerns of many different cultures, both historic and prehistoric.
Imagine trying to convey a concept as simple as “food this way” in pictures, or one as complex as your deepest fears and highest aspirations. What symbols would you use? Would a person a thousand years from now
understand them? Would they be able to follow your directions to water or understand your place in the cosmos?
Whatever the intent, rock art can be considered the celebrations, maps and practical wisdom left by indigenous people for those who would follow. Through rock art, knowledge could be passed to future generations—including our own. Though we may not understand them, petroglyphs and pictographs often inspire a sense of awe and
wonder.
One translation of these images might well be: “listen and survive.”
Some years ago, I was asked to write a piece about... (
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