The Sand Island petroglyph site is one of the large sites that I have visited numerous times and I always seem to find something new on each visit. There is just so much to be seen here if you study the site closely. The main reason I am posting this photo today, which only shows a small section of the panel, is because of the mask-like petroglyphs that can be seen close to the center. These masks are very similar to the Green Mask pictograph that I posted a photo of yesterday.
Since I posted a photo of the Green Mask this morning, I’ll post another photo from the same site in Sheiks Canyon. These polychromatic abstract-geometric paintings are found on the upper alcove wall and are very intriguing.
The well-known Green Mask pictograph located in Sheiks Canyon, just off of Grand Gulch, is a haunting face painted high up on the alcove wall. I have read that this may possibly represent a ritual object made from a whole face and hair scalp of a human head because such an object, painted in a similar manner, was excavated from a Basketmaker burial in northern Arizona. I wish I had brought my long lens along with me when I hiked there since it was located very high on the back alcove wall.
I’ll start the week off with one of my favorite photos of Newspaper Rock. Here’s a nice overview of most of the panel that is well-known and found along Indian Creek on the way to the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. There’s just so much to see on this panel. I have stopped here many times over the years and I always notice something new each time.
Let’s finish off the week with an overview of one of my favorite pictograph panels; The Ochre Alcove in the San Rafael Swell. Just amazing detail in this one!
