Here’s a unique perspective of the Owl Panel located near Moab. This photos shows the main portion of the panel that includes the precision-carved owl petroglyphs along with a much larger life-sized anthropomorph. There appears to be two smaller bird-like figures and, of course, plenty of your typical bighorn sheep, too. This is an awesome panel that I really need to get back to again soon.
Yesterday evening I set out shortly before sunset to find some new petroglyphs not far from my home. I have been by this site many times before and never knew it was there! This photo just shows a section of the panel of petroglyphs pecked into a large boulder along the Gunnison River. Like many of the other petroglyphs in the area, these appear to be of Ute origin. So far, this is one of the better panels near my home, and thankfully they haven’t been too vandalized, either.
Here’s another new pictograph panel I managed to find in the Book Cliffs on Sunday. I had searched for this one previously, but came up empty handed on that trip. I’m not sure what style this panel is, but if I had to guess, I would say it looks Fremont. It also appears that this panel might be depicting a ‘birthing scene’ but that’s just my initial interpretation. Whatever it is, it’s a pretty nice panel and I’m glad I was able to find it this time.
Here’s another photo I took on Sunday while exploring the Book Cliffs just over the border in Utah. These three shields, that I’m guessing might be of Ute origin, are found among many other pictographs and petroglyphs in the area. The bottom portion of these shield figures have not held up as well as the top, but I managed to bring out a little more detail in this photo.
The Ascending Sheep pictograph panel is another of my favorites. Many times I am awestruck at the size of some of these Barrier Canyon Style panels because they are so large. This panel, on the other hand, is completely the opposite. The figures here are actually very small. Even though they are small, the details found in this scene are just amazing! Take, for example, the central figure surrounded by the tiny sheep. It is an anthropomorphic figure with what appears to be a sheep’s head, a snakes tongue and possibly bird feet. It’s also holding a bird-like figure on one hand and a tiny snake dangles from the other. Click on the image for a larger view so that you can admire all the fine details yourself!
