I visited this petroglyph site along the Colorado River near Moab just before sunset after a long day of exploring ruins and rock art. The low angle of the sun seemed to strike this panel perfectly giving off a nice orange glow. The most prominent part of this panel that stands out the most to me is the vertical line of tracks that seem to travel down the smooth sandstone surface. There are also your typical bighorn sheep petroglyphs and some snake-like figures on the lower left.
This is just a small portion of the well-known Buckhorn Wash Pictograph Panel located in the San Rafael Swell. Because of the panel’s close proximity to the Old Spanish Trail and currently next to a wall-traveled road, there has been a steady stream of potential vandals passing by this spot for over two centuries……and vandalize it they did. Thankfully, as part of the 1996 Centennial Celebration, citizens of Emery County initiated the restoration of the Buckhorn Wash Panel.
While I rarely try to figure out the meaning behind the rock art sites I visit (I prefer just to enjoy them for what they are), I did read an interesting theory about this panel in a book called ‘On the Trail of Spider Woman’ by Carol-Patterson-Rudolph. While this site is usually categorized as Barrier Canyon Style, LaVan Martineau has presented an interpretation that associates these pictographs with the Hopi Snake Dance Ceremony and dates them from AD 1000 to 1300. It’s an interesting theory and I enjoyed reading about it, but in the end, who really knows? The theory did help me come up with a name for this photo, though.
A different perspective of the very impressive and well known petroglyph panel at Rochester Creek in the San Rafael Swell. Some rock art experts attribute the panel to the Fremont, while others believe it is Barrier Canyon Style….I’m guessing it is a mixture of both with some other later styles in there, too. It’s an amazing panel and there are many other petroglyphs located nearby, so I will have to post some closer and more detailed photos in the future.
The Courthouse Wash pictographs located just inside of Arches National Park near Moab are an amazing display of Barrier Canyon Style pictographs. Unfortunately, in 1980 vandals made an effort to destroy this panel by scrubbing it with stiff brushes and a cleaning abrasive. The National Park Service has attempted to repair some of the damage, leaving the panel in the state you see in my photo above. I have seen some photos of this panel pre-1980 and it was definitely an amazing site. I would have loved to have seen it before it was vandalized. This panel really gets washed out while in direct sunlight, but luckily, while I was there a big cloud blocked the sun for a short time and I was able to get a few good shots where I could bring out some more of the details.
A unique perspective of a concentric circles petroglyph found in Mule Canyon. While exploring the ruins and rock are in this particular alcove I happened to notice the light was reflecting onto the top portion of the large alcove creating a nice glow and enhancing the dark stripes above. I then framed this petroglyph so that I was able to capture part of the glowing ceiling in the top right portion of the frame. I’m very happy with the result.
>> Mule Canyon
