Here’s part of an amazing Fremont pictograph and petroglyph (pictoglyph) panel located in the Ferron Box of the San Rafael Swell. The panel extends to the left, but that part of it was destroyed by a vandal who left behind a layer of plaster after a failed attempt to make a copy. It’s unfortunate, I would love to have seen the full panel intact.
I spent many days searching for this particular site. I knew which canyon it was in, but was still unable to find it. After a few trips to the area I was finally able to find these amazing pictographs with the help of a friend, and I realized that they were within my sight all the days I had missed them previously!
This panel is located in a large alcove high above the canyon floor. It’s a bit of a steep scramble to get up there, but well worth the climb.
Once in front of the pictographs, you are treated to an excellent example of Barrier Canyon Style rock art. Inside the large anthropomorph’s mouth is a small blue snake from which this panel’s name derives. I will probably have to post a closer shot of this panel in the future for you to appreciate all of the finer details, but for now just enjoy the scene in it’s surrounding alcove.
The Skeleton Shaman at the Head of Sinbad in the San Rafael Swell is not only one of my most favorite pictograph panels around, it’s also one of the best preserved examples of Barrier Canyon Style, too. It’s no wonder that every time I am in the area, I have to stop and admire these beautiful pictographs!
Some believe that this pictograph panel in Chaco Canyon represents the supernova that created the Crab Nebula on July 4, 1054. It was a nice hike to reach this rock art site on the way to Penasco Blanco.
From Stone Chisel and Yucca Brush:
“A common experience for rock art aficionados is to arrive at a reportedly spectacular site only to discover that previous visitors painted or carved names, dates, modern symbols, slogans, and other remarks over or adjacent to the Native American images. Perpetrators of such graffiti actually claim to hold a certain kinship with rock art iconography. More poignantly, they consider rock art as the first recognizable manifestation of graffiti, referring to it as ‘archeograffiti.’. Based on this rationale they have no compunctions about adding their own signs to the existing paleoart.
However, while graffiti is intrinsically defined as illicit, the motivation for rock art was licit. That is, it was condoned, supported, and even encouraged by the social group to whom the art belonged. Rock art thus does not constitute archaeograffiti, and graffiti, whether witty or aesthetically pleasing, gang-related or politically motivated, is tantamount to vandalism.”
– Ekkehart Malotki & Donald E. Weaver Jr.
