« Posts tagged anasazi

Una Vida Petroglyphs

Una Vida Petroglyphs

Shortly after arriving in Chaco Canyon last month, we hiked up to the Una Vida Great House near the visitor’s center. Una Vida is in a near-natural state of preservation with no major vandalism, and with only minor excavations and preservation repairs. Time and the forces of nature have collapsed the roofs. Walls have fallen. Centuries of blowing sand have covered the rooms with a protective blanket of sand.

A short walk up the slope behind Una Vida will take you to a few petroglyph panels. This is one of the better panels that we found in the park. I actually ended up returning to the panel later in the evening so that I could photograph this site bathed in the warmer late evening sunlight.

>> Long Weekend in Chaco Canyon

Big Man Alcove

Big Man Alcove

The Big Man Panel in Grand Gulch is a large pictograph and petroglyph panel located in a very large alcove about 200 feet above the canyon floor. It’s not visible from the bottom, so you need to climb up to it if you want to see it. The focal point of this panel are the two life-sized anthropomorphic figures painted in red that seem to represent a man and woman This photo shows a wide view of the alcove and the pictographs painted within. In the future I will post up some closer photos of these figures for a better look at them. This is an amazing panel to view, and it’s easily seen on a day hike into Grand Gulch.

>> Big Man Panel & Lower Comb Wash

Look Up in Shay Canyon

Look Up in Shay Canyon

I’ve realized that I’ve been posting a lot of Barrier Canyon Style photos lately (well, they are my favorite ones), so here’s a look up at one of the many petroglyph panels in Shay Canyon. These are believed to be Anasazi, but there are certainly figures in the area the look Fremont, too. Shay Canyon contains quite a few excellent petroglyph panels that are easy to access and great to explore, which are also very well preserved. When I visited Shay Canyon earlier this year, the sky was overcast almost the whole time, but shortly before I left the area there were a couple of small breaks in the clouds. This was one of the few photos I got that included some blue sky that day.

>> Shay Canyon Petroglyphs

Five Faces

Five Faces

The Five Faces are an outstanding pictograph panel tucked away in a remote canyon within Canyonlands National Park. This panel represents one of the ‘Faces’ motifs which consist primarily of polychrome anthropomorphs that have flat-topped or bucket-shaped heads on top of broad shouldered torsos. Below the panel, there are many ‘metate’ grooves on the large stones. I have visited this panel a couple of times and it still fascinates me. Now I just need to make the time to visit the other panels in the area that represent the ‘Faces’ motif.

>> Davis Canyon

Kane Creek Sheep

Kane Creek Sheep

I’ve seen many bighorn sheep petroglyphs while out exploring the desert, but for some reason this one has always seemed to stand out to me. I consider it one of my favorite sheep petroglyphs, and have visited it a number of times. It’s carved on a canyon wall along Kane Creek near Moab that has many other petroglyph panels nearby, including some that are quite large and impressive- but for some reason I always gravitate back to this precisely pecked petroglyph (say that three times fast!).

>> Mill Creek, Kane Creek and the Bartlett Panel