Sunday

Daytrip – Pahranagat Wash & Upper Arrow Canyon

EP-P1100200This past week Harvey Smith and I hiked the Pahranagat Wash and Upper Arrow Canyon which runs along the north eastern edge of the Arrow Canyon Wilderness Area, on the northern end of the Arrow Range. This area is about 66 miles from Las Vegas on NV-168 off Interstate-15 and the Glendale/Moapa exit. This large wash, just north of the Arrow Canyon Dam is the location of some very interesting and unusual petroglyphs, most of which are on rock walls that lack patina, which is unusual. Click here for pictures and information on this site … Pahranagat Wash & Upper Arrow Canyon.

Thursday

Daytrip – Black Canyon at the Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge

EP-P1100039-2Last week (2/12) I made what was my third visit to the Black Canyon Rock Art Site inside the Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge. Because this is such a valuable historic site, I made an attempt to gather and display more information on its history.  As I now had a pretty good collection of petroglyph pictures from this site, I also decided to arrange and group them into four basic categories; Pahranagat Patterned Body Anthropomorphs (PBA), Pahranagat Man, Zoomorphs, and Abstract, so that they could be more easily be viewed, studied and compared. Click here to view this page … Black Canyon Petroglyphs in the Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge

Saturday

Daytrip – China Date Ranch

EP-P1090938This past week, Harvey Smith, Bob Croke and Blake Smith and I decided to go hiking at the China Ranch Date Farm, located south of Tecopa California, about 80 miles from Vegas. It was a beautiful day for hiking, in the mid 70’s with a nice breeze. Besides some excellent hiking, the ‘badland’s’ like topography provided some unique vistas. The hot, out of the oven, date nut bread that they bake all day long is worth the trip in and of itself. Click here for pictures and descriptions of the day’s hikes … China Ranch Date Farm

Daytrip – White River Narrows Petroglyphs

EP-P1090836This past week, Harvey Smith, Blake Smith and I took a trip about 150 miles north of Las Vegas, up to the White River Narrows Archaeological District for some more petroglyph viewing. This was the last of the six primary petroglyph sites in Lincoln County that remained on our to-do list. You can find pictures and information on the other five sites by going to the Index For Category - Petroglyphs & Pictographs by selecting the Photos By Subject tab on my site. Click the link below for pictures and information on this past week’s hike … Daytrip - White River Narrows Archaeological District.

Friday

Daytrip – 4 Wheeling in Eldorado Valley

EP-P1090721Last week Harvey Smith, Bob Croke and I spent the day 4 wheeling around Eldorado Valley and the Lake Mead Recreational Area. It is amazing how many 4WD roads there are in this area. In fact, after nearly seven hours of driving across desert bajadas, up and down washes and through and around the mountains, we got somewhat lost on our return. It ended up taking us more than an hour to find where we had left the truck. Click the following link for pictures and a description of this daytrip … Eldorado Valley.

Thursday

Daytrip – Mt. Irish Archaeological District

EP-P1090588-2Last week Harvey Smith, Robert Croke and I drove up highway 93 to the Mt. Irish Archaeological Rock Art Site. It is about 110 miles north of Las Vegas, north of Alamo, NV. Because this location actually contains four sites full of petroglyphs, I ended up with more than 150 photos. As a result it has taken me several days cull them and put together all of the pages needed to properly describe this area.  This link takes you to a summary page with links to four more additional pages ...Mt. Irish Archaeological District. The additional links provided below are for each of the pages for the individual sites within the district.
      Echo Rock (In the Mt. Irish Archaeological District)
        Paiute Rock (In the Mt. Irish Archaeological District)
          Shaman Knob (In the Mt. Irish Archaeological District)
            Shaman Hill (In the Mt. Irish Archaeological District

Sunday

White River Narrows Archaeological District (Summary Page)

 {Click on an image to enlarge, then use the back button to return to this page}
This page last updated on 10/11/2017

Introduction: As I began to discover more and more rock art sites during my hikes over these past several years, I have become witness to far too many examples of where persons had seemed fit to deface them with graffiti and other examples of damage. Eventually I realized that the sharing of my hiking adventures could have the potential to increase public exposure, and thereby increasing the possibility for even more damage. As a result, I decided to preface each of my rock art pages with the following information to help educate visitors about the importance of these fragile cultural resources. Before scrolling down, I implore you to READ the following ... as well as the linked page providing guidelines for preserving rock art.


Here are a few simple guidelines you can follow that will help to preserve these unique and fragile cultural resources that are part of our heritage. Guidelines for Preserving Rock Art. If you would like to learn more about the Nevada Site Stewardship Program, go to my page ... Nevada Site Stewardship Program (NSSP).
    
EFP-Cane Site Landscape
(Fig. 01)
White River Narrows Petroglyphs Map
(Fig. 02)
Directions: White Rivers Narrows is located by SR 318, about 150 miles north of Las Vegas. It is 23.0 miles from the intersection of State Route 375, State Route 318 and U.S. Route 93 (known as the "Y"). The entrance (a dirt road) is 4.1 miles past the "White River Narrows Archaeological District" sign and is on the right (east) side of the road. After going through the gate, it is 2.15 miles to the register at the terminus of the road. Just beyond the register is the most impressive petroglyph areas within the district, called the Amphitheater.
Area Description:  The White River Narrows Archeological District is located in the Weepah Spring Wilderness, a 51,480-acre wilderness area in Lincoln and Nye Counties, of Nevada. Weepah Spring Wilderness area contains Timber Mountain and lies within the Seaman Range, and is an excellent example of a Great Basin mountain range. Though it lacks a single defined ridgeline, it contains many isolated peaks, maze-like canyons, walls of fossil bearing rocks, natural arches, and volcanic hoodoos. The Wilderness also has the largest stand of ponderosa pine in eastern Nevada and encompasses one of the largest and most well-known concentrations of petroglyphs in Nevada. In addition to its 4,000 year old rock art, other prehistoric sites in the White Rivers Narrows Archaeological District include shelter caves, hunting blinds, and campsites. White River Narrows is a winding canyon that was carved by the White River during the Pleistocene or Ice Age (ca. 2.5 million to 11,700 years ago). It forms a travel corridor that was used by ancient Native American cultures. The White River Narrows Archeological District was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 and is administered by the Ely Bureau of Land Management. The White River Narrows sites collectively form a District covering some 4,000 acres in an area that is especially scenic due to its rhyolite cliffs upon which much of the District's rock art is situated. Starting from its southern entrance, there are no less than six major sites containing glyphs. As noted on the map in (Fig. 02), they have been identified as the: (1) Cane Site; (2) Ash Hill; (3) Calendar Fence; (4) Martian Home; (6) Amphitheater; (7) Shoshone Frog; and (8) Single Rock. Most are prehistoric American Indian carvings, but there are also some pioneer glyphs carved by early settlers of European descent.
                      
The Cultural History: Though some of the oldest petroglyphs in the Great Basin are more then 8,000 years old, some of petroglyphs found in the White River Narrows have been estimated to be 4,000 years old. As with many other locations throughout the region, natural weathering processes, such as wind and rain, are slowly eroding these ancient markings. Many of the petroglyphs found here provide glimpses into the cultural lives of Native American peoples, hunters and foragers, who lived by harvesting wild plants and animals from some 4,000 years ago up to the early nineteenth century. Until the coming of Euro American settlers in the nineteenth century, hunter-gatherer cultures settled eastern Nevada. Hunters and gatherers skillfully harvested the wild resources of the arid Great Basin. Their deep environmental knowledge and efficient technology allowed them to prosper in the region for thousands of years. Hunter-gatherer groups lived in small, mobile family groups and moved across the landscape to gather seasonally available plants, animals, and other resources. Their cultural knowledge was expressed through song, myth, and rock art. Though the exact meanings of the Narrows’ rock art may never be known, they mark the Narrows as a place important to those who made and used these galleries of ancient art, and continue today to be important to Native American peoples living in the region.

General Description of the White River Narrows Rock Art: Two main rock art styles are found here; one generally associated with hunter-gatherers (Basin and Range tradition) and one with Fremont groups. Basin and Range tradition rock art is distinguished by finely made abstract designs such as circles, spirals, rectangles, and wavy lines. These were often combined to make complex images and compositions that are very ambiguous and evocative. In this tradition of rock art, artists depicted people as stick-figures. They portrayed a wide range of animal species, most commonly bighorn sheep, but also deer, coyotes, lizards, mountain lions, and birds. Fremont rock art is famous for its stylized portrayals of people, sometimes depicted wearing jewelry like necklaces and earrings.
                      
02/05/2015 Trip Notes: Entering the narrows from its south entrance, lower left of (Fig. 02), we drove to each of the numbered sites in the order of their numbering on the map. Unfortunately, there was a posting noting that no vehicular traffic was allowed beyond the metal register, location (05) on the map in (Fig. 02). As a result we were never able to reach locations (7) and (8). Descriptions and pictures of the petroglyphs for sites (1) through (6) are listed below. The general distribution pattern of rock art found at White River Narrows seems to indicate that each of the locations where the rock art was made may have have had specific cultural meaning. Certain themes and groupings of designs distinguish each site, suggesting that different places were thought to be more appropriate for certain kinds of rock art images. Though it is impossible to know the reasoning of the authors who created this rock art, understanding why particular sets of designs were made at specific places in a landscape often underpins research into rock art meaning.
                                       
EFP-Cane Site
(Fig. 03)
(1) Cane Site: This site is located on a basalt outcrop (Fig. 03) along the side of a dirt road that runs south of the main road. Though there are a couple of zoomorphs, the majority of the rock art here is mostly abstract designs in Basin and Range tradition style. Curvilinear design types such as circles, wavy lines, and complex meanders predominate the boulders here (Figs. 04 & 05). The few representational images are limited to bighorn sheep figures (Figs. 06 & 07). Higher up on the mound there is an unusual figure that has lines extending from its head and trailing lines extending from its arms and hands (Fig. 08). Though at first glance we thought it might be a large spider, others have noted that this could be the portrayal of an animal or an unusual artistic treatment of a person. Overall, this site exemplifies the wide variation in design types that Basin and Range tradition style rock art takes. Climbing to the top of this outcrop we were awarded with nice views of the area. The view in (Fig. 01 above) is looking to the northwest, back towards the highway and the entrance. The view in (Fig. 09) is looking east towards Site 2, approximately 500 feet away.
                                              
EFP-P1090779-3
(Fig. 04)
EFP-P1090788-2
(Fig. 05)
EFP-P1090779-2
(Fig. 06)
EFP-P1090785
(Fig. 07)
EFP-P1090790
(Fig. 08)
EFP-P1090798
(Fig. 09)
EFP-P1090807
(Fig. 10)
(2) Ash Hill Site: The Ash Hill Site is on the south side of a small hill, on a basalt cliff and talus (a slope of rock debris and small boulders) (Fig. 10). Even though there were suppose to be quite a few petroglyphs located on the vertical rock faces here, we were unable to find any. Though I did find what I though might be some, they appeared to be quite worn and hard to distinguish due to the lighting. We finally gave up and headed on to the next site.
EFP-P1090820
(Fig. 11)
(3) Calendar Fence Site: At this location there was a very long, and high, cliff line on the south side of the canyon (Fig. 11). Amazing as it seems, the entire length of this cliff contained on one isolated petroglyph panel on a large tuff boulder. It was positioned about in the middle of the picture in (Fig. 11). Probably one of the most prominent figures at the site, it is a finely made, long rake-like design that runs for several feet horizontally along the width of the boulder (Fig. 12). Two other small figures can be seen just below the rake: a serpentine line and a vertical line. This rock art has been suggested by some to be an example of hunting-magic, as they believe it portrays a game drive fence. It is located in an area that could have lent itself to game drives. Its narrowed entries could have been blocked using temporary fencing made of brush, directing game animals to hidden hunters. But, there is no reason why cultural practices (like rock art) intended to ensure hunting success would have been done only at hunting locales. Alternatively, it has been observed that during the summer solstice a shadow falls on the center of the rake-like design. This has suggested to some a planned solar interaction. It is not possible to prove if this apparent solar interaction is a chance correlation or one intended by the rock art’s makers. Figure 13 is a view looking west from this location.
                               
EFP-P1090814
(Fig. 12)
EFP-White River Canyon Calendar Fence
(Fig. 13)
(4) Martian Home Site: Again, as with site number two, we were unable to find the petroglyphs that were suppose to be at this location. There were suppose to be four petroglyph panels on a cliff on the west side of the canyon. Three panels are at the foot of the cliff, near the north end, and one is located at the top of the cliff. The site supposedly contains well-known Basin and Range tradition design types, such as a human hand-print, sunbursts (circles with short lines radiating around their disks), wavy lines, and concentric circles. Most notable are curvilinear abstract designs that are unique to this locality. These are circles and ovals that have lines inside, with curved or slanted lines extending from their tops, resembling “horns” more normally seen on anthropomorphic (human) figures. The emphasis on these enigmatic, internally decorated circles and ovals illustrates that certain designs were only made at particular places. Even though we were positive we were in the right area, we never did spot any glyphs. Perhaps I will have better luck on a future visit.
                                         
EFP-White River Narrows Amphitheater
(Fig. 14)
EFP-P1090859
(Fig. 15)
(6) Amphitheater Site: The final site we visited was located on the west side of the canyon, at a wide bend in the old river channel (Fig. 14 & 15). It contains, by far, the largest concentration of rock art in this district. It is also prominent because of the scale and density of its designs. Here, almost all of the rock art is at the foot of a tuff cliff that is, in places, soft and friable, and low to the ground. Some designs were incised rather than pecked, a generally uncommon way of making rock art in the region. The fact that old SR 38 runs by the site probably explains the quantity of graffiti initials that have been placed here. For the purposes of the pictures below, I Photo shopped out any visible graffiti.  The many abstract designs found here are representative of Basin and Range tradition types. Several rake-like figures are notable for their length, extending nearly 14 feet or more (Fig. 16). Animal designs include bighorn sheep (Fig. 19), bear paw prints, and possibly a lizard (Fig. 17). Anthropomorphs (human figures) include stick-figure types and a number of unique portrayals that apparently highlight gender (Fig. 21). Fremont-style anthropomorphs include two figures that have short, curved lines extending from their heads. Both have traces of red pigment in-filling them, a rare feature that suggests that some petroglyphs may also have been painted. I may be crazy, but the section of rock that I captured in (Fig. 22) appears to me to be someone’s attempt to carve a head into the bottom of the cliff.
EFP-White River Canyon Amphitheater Panel
(Fig. 16)
EFP-P1090832
(Fig. 17)
EFP-P1090831
(Fig. 18)
EFP-P1090836
(Fig. 19)
EFP-P1090827
(Fig. 20)
EFP-P1090851
(Fig. 21)
EFP-P1090857
(Fig. 22)
EFP-P1090833-2
(Fig. 23)
(Fig. 24)
As note previously, we were unable to locate the Shoshone Frog (#7) or the Single Rock (#8) sites, or to what is labeled the Northern Most Site (#9). After going back to the highway, we drove to the north end of the narrows looking for these sites but were unable to locate them. The northern site (#9) is notable for the sheer quantity of densely clustered rock art images, with many younger designs placed on top of older ones. The wide range of imagery portrayed at this site is particularly striking. Abstract designs include long lines that extend for several meters, complex meanders, outlined crosses, rakes, spirals, and circles. Representational figures include a large number of bighorn sheep (arranged in groups, as if portraying herds), lizards, stick-figure anthropomorphs (human figure), and footprints. These designs are local interpretations of Basin and Range tradition rock art. Possible Fremont-style anthropomorphs are represented by a few figures that have short curved lines extending from their heads. One rectangular design is decorated with vertical lines. This appears to be a Pahranagat-style patterned body anthropomorph (PBA), which is distinctive to Lincoln County and is concentrated in the Pahranagat Valley area to the south. White River Narrows marks the northernmost known extent of this regional rock art style. Maybe we can spend more time looking for these sites on a future visit.

_________

Reference Materials:

Manuscript written by Kenneth C. Clarke

Black Canyon Petroglyphs at PNWR (Summary page)

 {Click on an image to enlarge, then use the back button to return to this page}
This page last updated on 10/11/2017

Introduction: As I began to discover more and more rock art sites during my hikes over these past several years, I have become witness to far too many examples of where persons had seemed fit to deface them with graffiti and other examples of damage. Eventually I realized that the sharing of my hiking adventures could have the potential to increase public exposure, and thereby increasing the possibility for even more damage. As a result, I decided to preface each of my rock art pages with the following information to help educate visitors about the importance of these fragile cultural resources. Before scrolling down, I implore you to READ the following ... as well as the linked page providing guidelines for preserving rock art.


Here are a few simple guidelines you can follow that will help to preserve these unique and fragile cultural resources that are part of our heritage. Guidelines for Preserving Rock Art. If you would like to learn more about the Nevada Site Stewardship Program, go to my page ... Nevada Site Stewardship Program (NSSP).
    
EP-P1080827-P1080828-2
(Fig. 01)
(Fig. 02)
Beginning in early November of 2014, I made three daytrips to Black Canyon, located inside the Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge, for the purpose of searching out and collecting pictures of the unique rock-art found at this site. The more I searched the Internet about this prolific site between visits, the more knowledge I gained about its history and how much there was here to see. Each subsequent visit led me to discover and record more and more panels. After my last visit I discovered the map shown in (Fig. 02). This map shows the location of each individual petroglyph panel at the Black Canyon Site; each panel's location is marked by a circle - "o". My study of  this map indicates that there are still a few panels that I have yet to locate and record, though I feel that I have captured pictures of the vast majority of what is available. Below I have provided links to the pages I created that provide pictures and a description of my hikes for my first two visits here. The remainder of this page covers my last visit on 02/13/2015 and provides a picture collection of the major panels and glyphs from each of my three visits.

11/13/2014 Trip NotesI made this trip to the Pahranagat DWR with the rock-hounds from the Heritage Park's Senior Facility. Because I have been here on two previous occasions, my objective for this visit was to hike in the Black Canyon area and locate some of the Black Canyon petroglyphs. Click this link for pictures and information on this visit ... Black Canyon Petroglyph Site - Trip Notes for 11/13/2014.

11/19/2014 Trip NotesBecause I ran out of time on previous visit here to look for any more petroglyphs, I decided to visit the Black Canyon Petroglyph Site once again, this time with hiking partners Robert Croke and Blake Smith. Heading to an area we missed on our last visit, we found dozens more petroglyphs including the famous Pahranagat Man. Click this link for pictures and information on this visit ... Black Canyon Petroglyphs - Trip Notes for 11/19/2014.

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02/13/2015 Trip Notes: This trip was my third, and last visit to this site (Fig. 03), and even though I spotted nearly a dozen more panels than I did on my first two visits, I now know from the map in (Fig. 02) there are still more to be discovered. The majority of glyphs found here are concentrated in three major areas that I have identified as follows: {A#1} the cliffs on the eastern edge of the canyon shown in (Fig. 04) and by the yellow route in (Fig. 03); {A#2} the large hill or mound in the center of the canyon shown in (Fig. 05) and represented by the orange route in (Fig. 03); and {A#3} the long cliff on the west side of the highway and canyon shown in (Fig. 06) and represented by both blue and yellow routes in (Fig. 03). So far I have only completed a 'cursory’ investigation of {A#3}. Below I have taken pictures captured from each of these three areas and grouped them into four different categories for study and comparison. Please feel free to send me any information or comments you may have relative to any of these postings. I Should note that this area is currently closed for viewing until the Refuge receives more funding.

(Fig.03)


EFP-P1080799
(Fig. 04)
EFP2-P1080827-P1080828
(Fig. 05)
EFP-P1080913-P1080914
(Fig. 06)
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Understanding Pahranagat Valley Rock Art:  Black Canyon (Fig. 01), located within the Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge, is only one of nearly a half dozen rock-art sites within the Pahranagat Valley area of southeastern Nevada. Based on what they know so far, archaeologists have only been able to paint the Desert Archaic culture that lived here with a very broad brush. Dating, deciphering and understanding the meaning of the rock art found here has been elusive at best. It is generally agreed, however, that the indigenous people who once inhabited this area created some of these petroglyphs thousands of years ago. The rock art found here ranges in age from the Early Archaic cultures consisting of ABSTRACT rock art (ziz-zag and parallel lines, dots and circles) 5500 BC to AD 1, including REPRESENTATIONAL rock art (“ghost-like” body forms, headresses, and animals) up through the Anasazi & Fremont cultures’ of REPRESENTATIONAL rock art (a variety of human forms (Anthropomorphic), birds, spirals, bighorn sheep, deer, elk and ABSTRACT designs) including REPRESENTATIONAL (broad-shouldered human forms trapezoidal in shape with abstract interior body decorations) AD 1 to AD 1275.
                         
While some petroglyph images, such as sheep, or hunters spearing a deer, etc. can be recognizable, their specific meaning remains elusive. Some theorize that they convey important information pertaining to site boundaries, clan or tribal ownership, others argue that they are symbols that were pecked or carved into rock faces during important rituals, and therefore have a specific religious connotation. While some glyphs seem indicate the presence of game, shelter and water, the more esoteric symbols such as zigzags, spirals, dots, concentric circles and others are less easy to define and have most often been relegated to the category of religious symbols. Archeoastronomers have also found that a number of the rock images are celestial in nature, indicating solstices and planetary movements, and certain sites have been found to be astronomical observatories similar in function to Stonehenge.
                                  
All of the examples in the pictures shown below come from the Black Canyon site in the Pahranagat Valley. Because many diverse cultures inhabited this area over a period of more than 7,000 years, from the early hunter-gathers to the more sedimentary tribes who began to grow crops, each left a “piece” of their life and culture for others to see. Many patterns and motifs found throughout other sites in the area are often similar but are never quite the same; each site being unique. The fact that the coloring of the peckings (some lighter vs some darker) found within a single panel is an indication that they may have been pecked or re-pecked by more than one culture over time.
                         
Uncertain in its age and cultural affiliations is what is known as the Pahranagat anthropomorph style, which is only found in the Pahranagat Valley. Traditionally the style is dated to the late Middle and early Late Archaic periods based on associated archaeological remains and the fact that some figures wield atlatls. This style comprises two distinct types of anthropomorphs -- Pahranagat Man and the Pahranagat Patterned Body Anthropomorph (PBA).

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The Pahranagat Patterned Body Anthropomorph (PBA): As can be seen by the pictures of panels below, the Pahranagat PBA has many variations. It is a rectangular form with no head that is internally decorated with a variety of grids, dots, or geometric motifs. One of the most interesting things about the Pahranagat PBAs is their interior design. In fact, of the 227 known PBAs on sites in the area, only six do not have interior markings. What they mean is anybody’s guess. They could represent group affiliation, clan identifiers or tribal symbols, personal markings (body painting, tattooing) or warrior markings.
Breastplate
I wonder if they could be representative of a Indian breastplate (right) that were sometimes worn by warriors for protection and may even have had a spiritual significance (Figs. 09 & 13). A breastplate was sometimes worn by mythological beings as a distinctive item of clothing. More than half of PBA’s have two short vertical lines that extend from the top that sometimes end with a round knob (Fig. 13). An almost equal number have a “fringe” of short vertical lines at the bottom (Figs. 07 & 09). They have stick-figure legs and short arms, sometimes bearing an atlatl-like object, seen in almost all of the PBA's below. It has been recorded that nearly a quarter of all PBA’s carry an Atlatl in their right hand. Some believe that another held object is what appears to be netting, which would be a logical tool to use in the riparian areas for fish, birds, or other small game. So it would appear that the PBA may be representative of a hunter utilizing atlatls and nets. In addition to being used for hunting, Atlatls may also serve another purpose, that of warfare. Because the Pahranagat valley was a choice hunting and fishing area, it is likely that its inhabitants would have been very protective of their “turf”, with a need to protect it from encroaching peoples. Based upon numbers of PBA motifs found throughout the Pahranagat Valley, it seems obvious that they had great significance and importance.

A#1-EP-P1080839_PBA-01
(Fig. 07)
A#1-EP-P1080806_PBA-02
(Fig. 08)
A#1-EP-P1080815_PBA-03
(Fig. 09)
A#2-EP-P1080896_PBA-04
(Fig. 10)
A#2-EP-P1100053_PBA-05
(Fig. 11)
A#2-EP-P1100053-2_PBA-06
(Fig. 12)
A#2-EP-P1100058_PBA-07
(Fig. 13)
A#2-EP-P1080883_PBA-08
(Fig. 14)
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Pahranagat Man: Easily recognizable, Pahranagat Man has a solid-pecked ovoid (Fig. 16) or rectangular body (Figs 15 & 17), large eyes (sometimes indicated by using negative space (Fig. 15), and a line protruding from its head; its arms may be straight, angled or portrayed down-turned with long digitate fingers. Much fewer in number, these striking figures almost seem somewhat haunting. Could they have been used to represent a shaman or have some other religious significance?
A#1-EP-P1080848_PM-01
(Fig. 15)
A#2-EP-P1080919_PM-02
(Fig. 16)
A#2-EP-P1100033_PM-03
(Fig. 17)

For more pictures of Pahranagat Man, and other similar images shown on this page, check out some of the petroglyph images on the following pages ...

... Shaman Knob-at Mt. Irish,

... Shaman Hill at Mt. Irish,

... Paiute Rock at-Mt. Irish,

... Shooting Gallery Petroglyphs,

... Ash-Springs Rock Art-Site




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Zoomorphs: Based upon the valley’s long history of abundant water, it supported a large number of animals that were drawn to its many lakes and marshes, making it a prime hunting area. The zoomorphs represented at various sites throughout the area depict a variety sheep, mule deer, elk (Figs. 20 & 22), coyote (Fig. 23) and rabbits. While the large majority of zoomorphs represented appear to be bighorn sheep, other animals are distinctly displayed. 
A#2-EP-P1080894_ZM-01
(Fig. 18)
A#2-EP-P1080923-2_ZM-02
(Fig. 19)
A#1-EP-P1080832-2_ZM-03
(Fig. 20)
A#1-EP-P1080832_ZM-04
(Fig. 21)
A#2-EP-P1100032_ZM-05
(Fig. 22)
A#2-P1100051_ZM-06
(Fig. 23)
A#1-EP-P1080832-3_ZM-07
(Fig. 24)
A#2-EP-P1080888_ZM-08
(Fig. 25)
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ABSTRACT Rock Art: Although many ABSTRACT rock-art panels contain a variety of ziz-zag and parallel lines, circles and dots, the majority of abstract art at this site are mostly comprised of random rows of dots (Figs. 26-30).
A#1-EP-P1080788_A-01
(Fig. 26)
A#2-EP-P1080893_A-02
(Fig. 27)
A#2-EP-P1080901_A-03
(Fig. 28)
A#1-EP-P1080819_A-04
(Fig. 29)
A#1-EP-P1080812_A-05
(Fig. 30)
A#3-P1100063_A-06
(Fig. 31)
A#3-P1100069_A-07
(Fig. 32)
A#3-P1100080_A-08
(Fig. 33)
A#1-EP-P1080786_A-09
(Fig. 34)

_______________________

Reference Materials:

Manuscript written by Kenneth C. Clarke