What a spectacular location for a petroglyph! According to the information kiosk, this rock imagery was likely created by the Shoshone in the 18th century. This is in Wyoming. Very different looking imagery here in the North Country compared to the imagery I'm most familiar with in the Four Corners region. Always, when enjoying cultural sites, please #VisitWithRespect.
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A favorite canyon country cultural site! Please #VisitWithRespect.
That large boulder on the left is balanced on a tiny base, but it probably won't tumble down into the canyon below for another thousand years or more. It is, however, a little sketchy feeling walking past it. This structure is ~800 years old.
A wonderful canyon! Note the ancient structures on the canyon floor under the alcove on the far right. #VisitWithRespect
Continued thread
Here's an example of finger marks in the mud mortar on the lower left of this structure just above the rock that's leaning against the mortared wall. There's two deep finger smears & slightly to the right of that are 3-4 finger smears. Also, there's a pottery shard on top of the tall rock with a depression in it below the finger smears. Collector's piles are a no no when visiting these sites. 2/2 #VisitWithRespect
Some nice hand prints! I really love seeing hand prints. It really makes a visceral connection for me with the people that lived in these cliff dwellings. I like seeing finger marks in the mud mortar in the stones walls as well. (See next photo.) 1/2 #VisitWithRespect
Now that I'm at home on my desktop, here's a proper edit of this nice view with the remains of a kiva in the foreground.
(SE Utah area, 5/17/2025.)
Okay, I'll admit, this was pretty cool to see. I've seen lots of 800-year-old corn cobs in the wild, but I've never seen corn husks. Nevertheless, "collector's piles" aren't being respectful of the site. We wouldn't walk into Notre Dame and make little piles of items we find inside the cathedral, right? Same difference for the Natives in this region and their ancestors who once lived in these canyons. #VisitWithRespect
Nice structure in this alcove on a beautiful day! (Please, if you are familiar with this site, don't name it on social media--thanks!) See alt-text for details.
A nice little surprise on today's canyon exploration. This is a Diné (Navajo) wikiup, likely dating to the late 19th or early 20th century. Back then it was very tough times for the Diné in the Four Corners region. Many were forced to hide in the canyons. Embarrassingly, I almost walked right by this. Lol! My mind must have been wandering. :)
I love when they leave hand prints! While we are not of the culture that created these impressions--and we have no clue what they mean--I don't think its insensitive to suggest that, in addition to what the hand prints meant to the people that made them, they also send a clear message across the millennia telling us that, "I was here."
Here's a series of ancient, 1000-year-old Kokopellis (humped-back flute player). Of course, while modern people see a stick figure with a phallus whose playing a flute these petroglyphs could have been something entirely different in the mind of the person who drew them. We're not of the culture that created the imagery so we can never know what the images really are. However, in modern Hopi culture, Kokopelli is a fertility symbol.
It's a rock spill.
A view of Comb Ridge (the undulating feature that kinda looks like a really dull comb) and Sleeping Ute Mountain in the far distance, about 60 miles away. The Ute's head is the large bump to the left. Oh, and this is the view from my campsite this evening. :)