Adobe Granary
Image code: #dc000725
A granary tucked in a narrow alcove high above a deep canyon.
I Was Here
Image code: #de000955
The imprint of a small hand, perhaps a child's, above an ancient dwelling.
Inner Passage
Image code: #de001665
An outer wall shields these dwelling, accessible only through a narrow opening (seen at the bottom of the wall on the lower right). This is believed to be the home of religious priests, and was built up in a variety of styles in the course of centuries.
Against the Grain
Image code: #dl000020
Sharpening marks on sandstone, found near an archaic ceremonial site, suggesting they may be thousands of years old.
Ceiling Above Ceiling
Image code: #de000084
Alcove patterns above an old puebloan ruin's thatched roof.
Food Supply
Image code: #de001672
Large granaries used by Ancestral Puebloans (Anasazi) to store maize.
Grinding Stone
Image code: #de000086
Metates and manos in ancient alcove dwelling.
Metate and Mano
Image code: #de002870
Metate (mortar) and mano (grinding stone) in an ancient puebloan dwelling, used to make maize (corn) flour.
Fremont Cyclops
Image code: #de001969
Anthropomorphic pictograph in the Fremont culture style.
Hunting Lodge
Image code: #de003086
A shallow alcove under a giant boulder, decorated with hunting-related pictographs dating back to archaic times (thousands of years old).
Decorated Dwelling
Image code: #de001676
The painted wall of a dwelling believed to have been used by priests conducting ceremonies in a nearby kiva.
Kitchen Counter
Image code: #de000951
A shallow alcove under a giant boulder, decorated with hunting-related pictographs dating back to archaic times (thousands of years old).
Tightrope Walker
Image code: #de002215
Anthropomorphic petroglyph at an ancient ceremonial site.
Kiva Ghosts
Image code: #di000468
A kiva is an underground ceremonial chamber used by puebloan cultures (what some refer to as Anasazi, although the term—meaning, “Enemy People” in the Navajo language—is inaccurate).
Curiosity
Image code: #dg000325
Leopard lizard watching me cautiously as I photograph a bighorn sheep petroglyph.
Mementos
Image code: #di000472
Bits and pieces of an ancient household.
Medicine Bowl
Image code: #di000480
Pestle and mortar in an ancient puebloan dwelling. The small size indicates it was used to grind something in small portions, rather than major food ingredients.
Lost Point
Image code: #dl000051
A small arrow point exposed by wind after having been lost in the sand for hundreds of years. The point likely is already covered in new sand, and may never be found again.
The Ties that Bind
Image code: #dk000041
Knots holding together the frame of an ancient dwelling’s window.
Keepers of the Altar
Image code: #f000163
Fremont culture anthropomorphous adorn the wall of a shamanic ceremonial site.
Winged Watchers
Image code: #di001425
The remains of an ancient desert dwelling. Among the rock art are depictions of large winged creatures believed to be mythical thunderbirds.
Some Things Never Change
Image code: #di000820
It's easy to romanticize ancient cultures as being more peaceful and in tune with the natural world. But, they were as human as any of us, and as prone to tribalism and violence as we are.
Walls within Walls
Image code: #de003172
A low wall marks a private living space in an enormous alcove where several such places line the walls.
Ancient Fingerprints
Image code: #di000784
The fingerprints of ancient people preserved in mortar.
Bighorn Sheep Tracks
Image code: #dl000353
The Rainbow Saga
Image code: #b001003
A large and dense panel of petroglyphs, likely carved in the course of many centuries.
Cross Sections
Image code: #f000340
Intersections of human and geologic times.
Hidden Meaning
Image code: #f000966
A petroglyph, likely of a dragonfly, pecked into sandstone by a member of an ancient native culture, likely around 1500-2000 years old.
Signifier
Image code: #f000949
In semiotics (the study of symbols), we distinguish signifier (the symbol) from signified (the meaning). To any given person, the meanings of many symbols are obvious, but in time these meaning may be forgotten, leaving cryptic symbols for those who may encounter them in some faraway future.
Ancient Ornithology
Image code: #956
Petroglyphs that look to me like the shapes of the feet of different bird species.
Mystery People
Settlers of white European descent are very recent arrivals in the desert areas where I live and do most of my work. The first white person to explore the canyons of the Colorado River was John Wesley Powell, just 150 years ago. Various Native American cultures have occupied these places for more than ten thousands of years.
Although none of my ancestors ever settled in the Americas (to my knowledge), I can’t help but feel deep sorrow for the ways some of these native tribes were treated and abused in the course of the conquest of the Americas—likely the greatest genocide in history.
Remnants of ancient people are abundant in some places and very scarce in others. Anywhere humans lived, they left some remnants: rock art (petroglyphs and pictographs), structures (some still intact, which is why I am reluctant to refer to them as ruins), grinding and cooking tools, knives and points, and decorated pottery shards.
We know little of the older cultures that settled here. Some were hunter-gatherers, some agrarian, and some built spectacular temples—the tallest buildings in the world, in their day. Alas, as the saying goes, history is written by the victors; but when it comes to Native American cultures, the victors have also done a thorough job of erasing history—forcing people to abandon their cultures, ceremonies, and rituals; destroying scriptures and temples, and killing religious leaders—leaving precious little for us to learn from about these ancient people.
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