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Ref - Rock Art Sites in Nevada's Great Basin

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This page last updated on 01/07/2018

Reference
Rock Art Sites in Nevada's Great Basin

As noted, the maps in previous chapters of this online manuscript indicate that the "Great Basin" encompasses nearly the entire state of Nevada. With the help of others over the past three years, I have visited more than two dozen sites throughout the south-central portions of Nevada in Clark and Lincoln counties. The map in (Fig. A) shows the approximate location for 26 numbered sites. The map legend below is a brief summary for each of the numbered sites and a link to the site specific page with detailed descriptions and pictures. For the purpose of displaying them, I have grouped then by the county that they are located. Some locations are well known to the public, while others are either not know or not well publicized do to their sensitivity.

(Fig. A)


Petroglyph Sites in Lincoln County Nevada


(Fig. 01) Click to Enlarge
(1) Black Canyon Site:  Famous for its Pahranagat Man petroglyphs (Fig. 01, Black Canyon is located within the Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge and 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 vast amount of rock art found here has been elusive at best. 

(Fig. 02) Click to Enlarge
(2) Crystal Wash Site: Evidence found in the rocks and hillsides indicates that this area was frequented by an ancient culture of people known as the Pahranagats, one of several known Southern Paiute groups. The Pahranagats represented a long-standing tradition of hunter-gatherer life ways over a period of time covering several thousand years. The size of this site is large enough to have accommodated a village of several small families, most probably during the winter months. 

(Fig. 03) Click to enlarge
(3) Mt. Irish Archaeological District: The Mount Irish Archaeological Site is located approximately 10 miles southwest of Hiko, Nevada. This area provides four distinct petroglyph sites: Echo Rock, Paiute Rock, Shaman Knob and Shaman Hill. Chipped and ground stone, rock shelters and the petroglyphs studied there suggest the sites were occupied from 1000 B.C. to the 1860s. Most of the petroglyphs found here have been classified by what is referred to as Great Basin Representational style.

(Fig. 04) Click to Enlarge
(4) Ash Springs Site: The Ash Springs Rock Art Site is located in the small community of Ash Springs. The site is predominantly a small habitation site comprised of two high intensity areas of domestic activity. With its large boulders sheltering people from the cold, this area is known to have been a winter site for the Pahranagats, and might have accommodated a small village of 25-40 individuals. Sherds of Fremont-like greyware have also been found, indicating the presence of these Southwestern groups who co-existed in this area along with the Pahranagats c. AD 500-1250.

(Fig. 05) Click to Enlarge
(5) Shooting Gallery Site: This site is located in the Badger Mountain Range approximately 9 miles from Richardville and US-93, west of Alamo, NV. A now-known "game drive" site, the area is currently thought to have been inhabited from as early as 2,000 years ago to as late as 500 years ago by several different groups. The rock art found here is representative of the three distinct styles found within the Pahranagat Valley: The Great Basin Abstract Style; the Pahranagat Representational Style; and the Fremont Representational Style.

(Fig. 06) Click to Enlarge
(6) White River Narrows Site: It is located in the Weepah Spring Wilderness, 23.0 miles from the intersection of State Route 375, State Route 318 and U.S. Route 93 (known as the "Y"). 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. Some of petroglyphs found in the White River Narrows have been estimated to be 4,000 years old.



Petroglyph Sites in Clark County Nevada


(Fig. 07) Click to Enlarge
(7)  Arrow Canyon Site: Located off of NV-168, northwest of Moapa and Glendale, Arrow Canyon runs along the northeastern edge of the Arrow Canyon Wilderness Area. To this day, Arrow Canyon is considered sacred by the Moapa Band of Paiutes who still reside in the area just east of the Arrow Canyon Range. The petroglyphs in the canyon were likely carved by both the modern Paiutes and their historical precursors, possibly as far back as the Desert Archaic peoples.
View petroglyphs from this site: Arrow Canyon Site Petroglyphs.
Read about my visits to this site: Arrow Canyon Site Visits.

(Fig. 08) Click to Enlarge
(8) Atlatl Rock Site: Altatl Rock is located inside of the Valley of Fire State Park. After about AD 1200-1300, a time of great drought, the Numic ancestors of the Southern Paiute occupied this portion of southern Nevada. More to the point is the fact that Altatl Rock contains petroghyphs that are fully characteristic of the prehistoric and ethnographic cultures of the Great Basin, but it also contains some motifs that are more typical of Puebloan rock art sites and presumably date to the period when farming was practiced here.

(Fig. 09) Click to Enlarge
(9) Buffington Pockets Site: Located about 8 miles east from exit 75 on the I-15, the Buffington Pockets is a geographic area that surrounds the beginning of the Bitter Spring Backcountry Byway Road that runs in a south easterly direction through the Muddy Mountains, About the only information that I have been able to ascertain about their creation is that the Anasazi Indians dominated this area of Nevada from around 1 A.D. to 1150 A.D. The virtual art gallery of petroglyphs on these soft sandstone canyon walls can probably be credited to this early culture.  The Paiute Indians are the likely descendants of these Indians and may have also contributed to some of these panels.

(Fig. 10) Click to Enlarge
(10) Brownstone Canyon Site: Brownstone Canyon Archaeological District comprises 2,920 acres inside the La Madre Mountain Wilderness Area, and contains the most expansive display of polychromatic pictographs found in all of Southern Nevada. The Native American cultures that may have used this area are: Southern Paiute (900 AD to modern times); Patayan Culture (900 A.D.to early historic times in the 1800s); Anasazi (1 A.D. to 1150 A.D.); Pinto/Gypsum (Archaic - 3,500 B.C. to 1 A.D.). Native Americans who inhabited or passed through this area left behind roasting pits, tools, implements and trash of their everyday living.

(Fig. 11) Click to Enlarge
(11) Grapevine Canyon Site: Grapevine Canyon is located within the boundaries of the Bridge Canyon Wilderness Area, south of Spirit Mountain. One of the most prolific petroglyph sites in Nevada, the vast number of rock art panels found here make it apparent that it has had a long history of use. These prehistoric people appear to be ancestral to several Yuman and Numic speaking tribes from this area, including the Mojave, Hualapai, Yavapai, Havasupai, Quechan, Pai Pai, Maricopa, Chemehuevi and Southern Paiute.

(Fig. 12) Click to Enlarge
(12) Hiko Spring Site: This site is located at Hiko Spring in the Newberry Mountains, about 12 miles west of Laughlin, Nevada. Because it seems to have essentially, many of the same rock art designs as the site found in Grapevine Canyon, located only 4 miles to the north, it can be assumed that they were probably made by the same peoples. Because this is considered a spiritual site by many local tribes, very little is written about the site.


(Fig. 13) Click to Enlarge
(13) Keyhole Canyon Site: Keyhole Canyon is located off US-95 in El Dorado Valley, south of Boulder City, Nevada. Keyhole Canyon is an amazing archaeological area with many petroglyphs and a few pictographs. Though very little is written about this site, it seems to have essentially, many similar rock art designs as the site found in Grapevine Canyon.



(Fig. 14) Click to Enlarge
(14) Mouse's Tank Site: Located in Valley of Fire State Park, the Mouse's Tank Petroglyph Trail consists of an impressive series of panels located along a short trail to a deep depression in the rocks that collects and stores water seasonally. Mouse’s Tank falls within a region that was occupied  Puebloan farmers during the period from approximately AD 1 to 1200 and contains many Puebloan style petroglyphs. Indeed, Mouse’s Tank includes motifs of pre-Puebloan, Puebloan, and post-Puebloan or Numic ages. The Mouse's Tank Trail affords a rare opportunity to view a kind of site in southern Nevada that typically would require traveling to Arizona or southern Utah to see.

(Fig. 15) Click to Enlarge
(15) Sloan Canyon Site: Though relatively little is known about this area, the Sloan Canyon Petroglyph Site is one of the most significant cultural resources in Southern Nevada. Archaeologists believe its individual petroglyphs were created by native cultures from the Archaic to the historic era. Experts believe the earliest of these were made by ancestral Puebloans in the Archaic period, but other tribes may have continued to add petroglyphs in later years. Archaeological evidence suggests resources within Sloan Canyon may have been used as long ago as 7,000 years.

(Fig. 16) Click to Enlarge
(16) The Cabins Site: The location for this site is at "the Cabins" in the Valley of Fire State Park. Even though there are several sandstone cliffs here that contain a dark patina, only the one located directly behind the cabins has any petroglyphs. Even though there are recognizable elements such as zoomorphs ("sheep-like"), this large panel contains many glyphs that are quite abstract in nature if not downright strange.


(Fig. 17) Click to Enlarge
(17) Willow Springs Canyon Site:  Located in Willow Springs Canyon in the Red Rock Canyon Park, there are dozens of petroglyphs and several pictographs. Unfortunately, due to their age, many of the pictographs have deteriorated to the point that many are unrecognizable and just barely visible.





(Fig. 18) Click to Enlarge
(18) Yellow Plug Site: So far, I have been unable to find any information about the petroglyphs found at this location. The only thing I have learned is that the location is referred to as the "Yellow Plug". The full panel of glyphs here runs about 40 feet in length. At its northern end, there is a shady crevice in the rock that even contains some well aged pictographs.



(Fig. 19) Click to Enlarge
(19) Red Springs Site Red Spring: The Red Spring area is part of the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. The first humans were attracted to the Red Rock area due to its resources of water, plant and animal life that could not be easily found in the surrounding desert. This made the Red Rock Canyon area very attractive to hunters and gatherers such as the historical Southern Paiute and the much older Archaic, or Desert Culture Native Americans. As many as six different Native American cultures may have been present at Red Rock over the millennia.

(Fig. 20) Click to Enlarge
(20) Sheep Panel Site: Located in the Gold Butte Region, this is without doubt one of the longest petroglyphs panels I have encountered. There are two rows of glyphs, with the upper row being at least 25-30 feet long. The upper row contains twenty-one zoomorphs (goats or big horn sheep) in a single line. Below and to the left of this depiction, there are two more sections containing some abstract glyphs, as well as another dozen zoomorphs. Though there were many Indian tribes who used this area as a migration corridor, the petroglyphs are probably Virgin River Anasazi (Ancestral Puebloan). It has been estimated that some of these glyphs are more than 500 years old.

(Fig. 21) Click to Enlarge
(21) Falling Man Site Falling Man Site: This is another site in the Gold Butte Region. It appears to be generally believed that Archaic hunter-gathers were the first prehistoric rock art makers to live here, with the last period being the Late Archaic Period from 1500 BC to the period of contact with Euro-Americans in the nineteenth century. Therefore, many of the petroglyphs here can be anywhere from 7000 to 700 years old. It appears that at some point the early hunter-gathers were followed by the Virgin Branch of the Keyenta Anasazi which appear to have occupied the area until sometime between 1000-1300 AD. Coming from the east, the western Anasazi include the Kayenta Anasazi of northeastern Arizona and the Virgin Anasazi of southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, both areas of which boarder the Gold Butte Region.

(Fig. 22)
(22) Duck Rock Hike Site: While on a hike to Duck Rock in the Valley of Fire, we came upon a huge sandstone wall with a large panel full of petroglyphs. There were also some on some other rocks nearby.Again, it was created by Puebloan peoples during the period from approximately AD 1 to 1200 as they passed through this area hundreds, if not thousands of years ago.



(Fig. 23) Click to Enlarge
(23) Mud Wash Road Site: The panels containing these petroglyphs are located along Mud Wash Road in the Gold Butte Region. As noted before, there were many Indian tribes who used the Gold Butte area as a migration corridor. The petroglyphs are probably Virgin River Anasazi (Ancestral Puebloan). It has been estimated that some of these glyphs are more than 500 years old.

(Fig. 24) Click to Enlarge
(24) Kirt's Grotto Site: So only a few miles from the Mud Wash Road Site in Gold Butte, Kirt's Grotto is somewhat difficult to locate. These petroglyphs are situated between the two sets of cliffs. One of the most photographed panels found here is of the "dying corn plants", perhaps a symbol of a sustained drought causing the corn to die.  It is believed that many of the Gold Butte panels were created by the Anasazi, who as planters of crops, their survival was all about the rain. Other panels contain images of an anthropomorph, sheep, a stylized sheep or coyote, a horizontal journey symbol and an anthropomorph with two circle or spirals on his arms/legs.

(Fig. 25) Click to Enlarge
(25) Kohta Circus Site: Located in a desolate area in the middle of Gold Butte, the Kohta Circus petroglyph area contains the largest petroglyph panel in the state of Nevada. The lower panel contains so many glyphs it actually seems ‘cluttered’. It is roughly 80 feet long and 6 feet high and is packed full of petroglyphs. As to who was responsible for their creation is anyone’s guess. Over the years many different people utilized the resources of Gold Butte making it difficult to determine who made what rock art. The first to live here were the bands of Archaic hunter-gatherers. They were followed by the Virgin Branch of the Keyenta Anasazi. When the Anasazi left sometime around 1000AD, the Patayan and southern Paiute made Gold Butte their home.

(Fig. 26) Click to Enlarge
(26) Warshield Canyon Site: These panels are located on two side of the Pahranagat Wash above the Arrow Canyon Dam at the north eastern edge of the Arrow Canyon Wilderness Area on the northern end of the Arrow Range. There are several petroglyph panels on the boulders and cliffs above the wash. Due to the fact that many of the glyphs found here appear to be representative of Indian  “war shields”, the reason this area is loosely referred to as Warshield Canyon





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Glossary

Glossary:
~ A ~
Abraded: A method of making rock images by lightly rubbing the rock surface with a

coarse, durable stone tool; a shallower effect than cupule.

Abstract motif: Any rock art image of a kind too abstruse, not easily understood, or so
stylized as to be unrecognizable as a real object or living thing. A non-figurative motif not recognizable as an object of the real world.
Alluvial: Of, pertaining to, or composed of sediment deposited by flowing water.


AMS 14C: Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, a method of radiocarbon dating (i.e.,
Carbon-14) which directly measures the amount of 14C in a sample; because
microscopic traces can be dated, AMS is used on rock imagery to date both
organic binders in pictographs and microbial residues in rock varnish.

Animism: Any belief system whereby natural phenomena and things—both animate
and inanimate—are held to possess an innate soul.

Anthropic: Pertaining to human form.

Anthropocentric: Relating to imagery that predominatly depicts humanlike figures.


Anthropologist: Anthrologists are people that practice anthropology, which is the study of humanity. Basically they want to figure out what makes humans human. An anthropologist might be interested in everything from the traditions of a tribe on a remote island to the culture of an urban community and everything in between.

Anthropology: The study of humanity, attempting to establish what defines Homo Sapiens, who our ancestors are, what our physical traits are, how we behave, why there are variations among different groups of humans, and how the evolutionary past of Homo Sapiens has influenced its social organization and culture.

 Anthropomorph: Any rock art element of human-like form, stylized or realistic.


Archaeological Site:

Archaeology: The scientific study of ancient cultures and their life and activities through the examination of their material remains such as fossil relics, artifacts, tools, and other artifacts usually dug up from the ground. Archaeology The scientific study and reconstruction of the human past through the systematic recovery of the physical remains of man's life and cultures. Artifacts, structures, settlements, materials, and features of prehistoric or ancient peoples are surveyed and / or excavated to uncover history in times before written records. Archaeology also supplements the study of recorded history. From the end of the 18th century onward, archaeology has come to mean the branch of learning which studies the material remains of man's past. Its scope is, therefore, enormous, ranging from the first stone tools made and fashioned by man over 3 million years ago in Africa, to the garbage thrown into our trash cans and taken to city dumps and incinerators yesterday. The objectives of archaeology are to construct cultural history by ordering and describing the events of the past, study cultural process to explain the meaning of those events and what underlies and conditions human behavior, and reconstruct past life-ways. Among the specialties in the field are: archaeobiology, archaeobotany, archaeozoology, and social archaeology. Modern archaeology, often considered a sub-discipline of anthropology, has become increasingly scientific and relies on a wide variety of experts such as biologists, geologists, physicists, sociologists, anthropologists, and historians. The methods appropriate to different periods vary, leading to specialized branches of the subject, e.g. classical, medieval, industrial, etc., archaeology.

Archaeoastronomy: The study of ancient cultures’ knowledge of, and use of astronomy; such knowledge may be incorporated in rock imagery. Also known as “Astroarchaeology.”

 Archaic period: 7,000 BC is known as the Archaic Period, a time in which people, known as hunter-gathers, built basic shelters and made stone weapons and stone tools. The early Desert Archaic peoples, like their Paleo-Indian predecessors, traveled in small mobile groups, probably extended families, in a ceaseless quest for food, materials, fuel and water. They carried their belonging on their backs, which prevented the accumulation of material wealth and, probably, the development of marked social status.

 Atlatl: A weapon used for hunting that propelled darts or small spears. It was later replaced by the bow and arrow around 500 A.D. The Atlatl is often depicted as a circle with a line through it.

Attribute: Any meaningful characteristic about a rock art design, either natural or cultural such as an element, technique of manufacture, type of paint, panel orientation, landscape setting, degree of varnish, etc.

Azimuth: A direction relative to true north defined in one-degree increments, increasing clockwise with 360° around the entire horizon; used to precisely define the direction a rock art panel “faces.”
~ B ~
Binder: A component of rock art paint, assisting uniform consistency, solidification or adhesion.

Biomorph: An object or picture providing adequate visual information to contemporary humans as resembling a biological form - human, animal, or plant..
~ C ~
Cairn: An anthropic mound of stones.

 Carbon dating: Also known as the Carbon 14 method and radio-metric dating. A scientific technique for determining when organic remains such as charcoal, bone, shell, and plant material died. Organic matter contains radioactive carbon-14 isotopes, which decay over time at a known rate. Carbon dating measures the remaining volume of carbon-14 isotopes in matter, providing an approximate age since death. Although often pigments used in rock painting contained an organic binder such as blood, there is usually too little pigment remaining on the rock to make direct dating possible.

Carbon ratio dating:  A method of dating in archaeology and earth science that can be used to derive or estimate the age of soil and sediment samples up to 35,000 years old. The method is experimental, and it is not as widely used in archaeology as other chronometric methods such as radiocarbon dating. The methodology was introduced by Archaeology Consulting Team from Essex Junction in 1992.

 Chert: A collective term for sedimentary microcrystalline silica rock formed by selective replacement of limestone; in some regions occurring as flint.

 Chronology: The arrangement of past events or manifestations according to their temporal sequence, and the science of providing dates for them.

 Clast: A fragment of rock of any size, but used especially to denote cobble-sized angular breakdown debris.; synonymous to detritus.

 Concretion: A coalesced deposit of mineral matter formed through the deposition of a cementing mineral precipitate, such as carbonate, silica or iron salts.

 Cupule: A cup shaped depression in the surface produced by grinding, pecking or a combination of both. They are also referred to as “pit-and-groove.” These cup-like depressions or pits in boulders are thought to be the oldest form of rock art, first appearing in parts of the Great Basin 7000 years ago.

 Curvilinear: An element or motif consisting of curved lines.
~ D ~
Desert varnish: Desert varnish, also called Patina, is a thin, dark red to black mineral coating (generally iron and manganese oxides and silica) deposited on the surface of pebbles and rocks of desert regions. As dew and soil moisture brought to the surface by capillarity evaporate, their dissolved minerals are deposited on the surface. The rate of varnish formation varies: it generally is thought to take about 2,000 years for it to form in arid areas, because it coats artifacts and natural objects known to be of such antiquity; but it has formed in less than 50 years in the Mojave Desert. Both high evaporation rates and sufficient precipitation are necessary for desert varnish formation.

Diachronic: An approach to the study of multiple events occurring sequentially through time, such as a series of rock art styles.
~ E ~
Early Archaic Period: This period began about 10,000 years ago and lasted until 3,000 years ago. It is divided into three sub-periods: Early (10,000 to 8,000 years ago), Middle (8,000 to 5,000 years ago), and Late Archaic (5,000 to 3,000 years ago).

 Early Pleistocene: The earliest geological period of the Quaternary, from about 1.8 million years ago to 780 000 years ago.

 Engravings: Also known as petroglyphs. Engravings are pictures, patterns, or designs cut into rock faces by pecking, scraping or grinding with a tool.

Element: Smallest definable fragment of a design such as a line, dot, circle, amoeba/blob, etc. Some specialists also use the term to refer to identifiable images, in the same sense as “motif” (see below).

Entoptic Forms: Shapes and images seen by the “mind’s eye” while in a trance or other altered state of consciousness.

Epigraphy: The study and interpretation of [ancient] inscriptions.

Epipentology: The study of paintings and engravings on exposed rock outcrops, walls of buildings, mobiliary objects, etc. Suggested as a term to replace the phrase “Rock Art Studies.”

 Erosion: A natural process by which mineral or earth matter is removed, including dissolution, weathering, abrasion, corrosion or transportation.

Ethnography: The anthropological study and description of a living culture. Some cultures still make, or have traditional knowledge about rock art; such information sometimes can offer insight into the meaning of ancient images via “ethnographic analogy.”
~ F ~
Figure: A design or pattern painted, drawn, pressed or engraved on a rock surface; a rock art motif, sometimes referred to as representational element of rock art.

 Figurative: Providing visual information recognized by contemporary humans as resembling the form of an object
~ G ~
Gaán: A.k.a. Gans; Apache mountain spirits who live in rocks or caves. They may be depicted in rock art as anthropomorphs with distinctive cross-shaped or three-pronged headgear.

Gallery: A large concentration of rock art, not necessarily continuous, consisting of a number of panels.

Geoglyph: Large ground figures produced either by building up rock alignments (such
as cairns) or scraping away rocks or desert pavement (intaglio). A (usually) large-scale image created on a geographic feature, often by removing a dark surface deposit to reveal lighter subsoil. The Nazca Lines are the most famous example, but geoglyphs also occur in California and other places.

Geomorph: A rock art motif of simple geometrical form or design, such as circle, line, cupule, CLM, barred lines. Sometimes called a geometric motif.

Glyph: Slang for a petroglyph motif; in archaeology, a symbol in a writing system

Grinding slick: A flat or shallow surface depression formed by grinding or crushing of foods with a stone.

Great Basin: A desert region of the western United States comprising most of Nevada and parts of Utah, California, Idaho, Wyoming, and Oregon. Coined by John C. Frémont who explored and named the area (1843-1845). It comprises roughly 210,000 sq. mi.
~ H ~
Hand print: A positive pigmented imprint of a human hand, made by pressing a paint-covered hand against the rock surface.

Hand stencil: A negative pigmented imprint of a human hand, made by spraying paint over the hand’s outline while it is pressed against the rock surface.

 Hematite: The principal ore of iron and one of several iron-based minerals used to make pigments for drawing pictographs; generally a dark red color when oxidized (ferric oxide, α–Fe2O3).

 Holocene: The current geological period, beginning about 10,000 years ago, after the Pleistocene. Sometimes referred to as the postglacial.
~ I ~
Igneous: Denoting a rock formed by solidification from a molten or partially molten state.

Incised: A method of making rock images by cutting or abrading narrow linear
marks into the panel surface; often an outlining technique.

Intaglio: The process of cutting or engraving a design, usually into a precious stone or metal; the artifact made by such a process; “desert intaglio” refers to geoglyphs.
~ K ~
Kachina (also katsina): Masked spirit beings of the Hopi, both depicted in rock art

and carved figurines—the latter made to teach Hopi children about their religion.

~ L ~
Lithic: Having been made from stone; in archaeology referring to stone tools.

 Limonite: One of several iron-based minerals used to make pigments for drawing
pictographs; generally a yellowish color when oxidized (a hydrous ferric oxide, Fe2O3).
~ M ~

Mano: A hand-held stone for grinding foods and other substances (minerals for pigments).

Medicine bag: A bag carried by Native Americans containing spiritually important objects usually made from the skin of an animal.

Mesolithic: The period of the Stone Age following the Palaeolithic.

Metate: A portable milling stone.

Middle Pleistocene: The geological period from 780 000 to 127 000 years ago.

Mobiliary Art: Portable art of the Ice Age including engravings and carvings on
stone, antler, bone, and ivory.

Monochrome: A pictograph executed in a single color.

Motif: A combination of elements or repeating elements forming an identifiable
image such as a trapezoidal anthropomorph, sunburst, rake, etc. Some rock art
specialists (e.g., Schaafsma) prefer the term “element” for this concept. Groups of motifs are known as panels

Mythogram: The message(s) of a rock art panel built on generative principles; in the
“art as mythogram” interpretive approach, one assumes there would be order and
patterning in the imagery derived from cosmological principles.
~ N ~

Neuropsychology: Integrated study of neurological and psychological phenomena,
in this context referring to neurologically-based mental imagery resulting from the
psychological condition of a trance or other altered state.
~ O ~
Ochre: An iron-based paint composed of a pigment such as hematite or limonite mixed with clay, water, and perhaps an organic binder such as a plant extract.
~ P ~
Palaeontology: The study of life in prehistoric times by using fossil evidence.

Paleolithic Age: The Paleolithic Age, Era or Period is a prehistoric period of human history distinguished by the development of the most primitive stone tools discovered. The Paleolithic era is followed by the Mesolithic

Panel: Any rock face, on bedrock or a free-standing boulder, with one or more rock
art motifs in spatial association.

Parietal Art: Art on the walls of caves and shelters, or on huge blocks.

Patina: A thin layer of (usually) mineral accumulation on a rock’s surface, derived
either from the surrounding environment or from leaching of the host rock, or
from a combination of both.

 Patination:

 Patterned Body Anthropomorph (PBA): An anthropomorph with complex designs on the body.

Percussion: The striking together of two objects, as in making a petroglyph by pecking. In rock art manufacture, percussion can be direct (striking the rock face with a pecking stone or other tool) or indirect (striking a second tool held in contact with the rock face).

Petroform: A geoglyph consisting of clasts placed on the ground to form a motif.

Petroglyph: Any pictograph made on a cliff face or boulder; in modern usage generally restricted to unpainted rock images made by pecking, incising, abrading, drilling, etc.

Petrograph: Rock imagery made by a combination of painting and pecking, incising,
abrading, drilling, etc.

Petromanteia: Natural rock formations and surfaces which resemble or mimic cultural imagery.

 Photogrammetry: The process of taking measurements from paired photographs to
produce 2D or 3D images, resulting in a “contour map” of a rock panel.

Phytomorph: Rock art motif of plantlike shape.

Pictoglyph: Painted rock art.

Pictograph: Painted designs that are applied with pigment to rock surfaces.

Pictograph: A sign, symbol or figure made on any substance by any method; in
modern usage referring to painted designs that are applied with pigment to rock surfaces.

 Pit and groove petroglyph: An early petroglyph tradition of the Americas, consisting of cupules and abraded grooves.

Polychrome: Painted imagery with more than one color of pigment.
~ Q ~
Quadruped: A zoomorph (see below) representing a four-legged animal, usually large game such as deer or bison.
~ R ~
Radiocarbon dating: See carbon dating.

Rectilinear: Motifs consisting of straight lines.

Relative dating: A method of estimating age through associated evidence such as archeological excavation.

Rock art: Archaeological term for any man-made markings made on natural stone. They are usually divided into petroglyphs [carvings into rock surfaces] and pictographs [paintings onto rock surfaces], and geoglyphs, although there are further forms, expressions and mediums.The broad cover term appears in the published literature as early as the 1940s. It has also been described as "rock carvings", "rock drawings", "rock engravings", "rock inscriptions", "rock paintings", "rock pictures", "rock records" and "rock sculptures.

Rock shelter: An overhang such as on a cliff face used as protection or shelter from the elements; often a temporary camp or permanent living area; favored because a fire in a true cave can suffocate the occupants.

Rock varnish: A ferromanganeous surface accretion on rocks, particularly common in arid regions, of dark-brown to near-black color; formerly called desert varnish.

 Rupestrian: Of, or pertaining to, rock imagery (e.g., rupestrian studies).
~ S ~
Scaling: A relative dating method which arranges image styles or types into a “scalogram” based on the presence (+) or absence (-) of traits.

 Scratched: Method of making images by lightly marring the surface using a sharpedged tool; a shallower effect than incising.

Seriation: A relative dating method comparing frequencies of styles, types or motifs
between sites in a given region. Histogram-like graphs called “battleship curves”
may be produced depicting the changing frequencies through time.

Shalako: Zuni deities impersonated by masked dancers, and depicted in Pueblo IV–
V period rock art.

 Shaman: A person skilled in contacting the otherworld who may be specialized in medicine, contacting the dead, love magic, hunting magic, etc.

Shaman(ism): In societies with animistic beliefs shamans are experts in the sacred, serving in matters of fertility, health, sickness, death & community well-being; studies of shamanism acknowledge that these specialists use rock art in healing and curing, future telling, controlling the elements, controlling animals, love medicine, gambling, etc.

Site: A location where associated archaeological remains occur. Thus, a rock art site may consist of a single rock shelter containing one or more paintings or engravings, or such images occurring more or less continuously on exposed rock over a considerable area.

Solid Pecked: A method of making rock images using a “pecking stone” or other sharp, durable tool to completely dimple the surface so that individual peck marks are difficult or impossible to discern.

Spalling: A type of natural erosion of a rock surface resulting in the loss of material
in thin layers.

Spirit helper:  A shaman's supernatural assistant, tutelary, or guide, often in the guise of an animal, obtained during a vision quest.

 Solid Body Anthropomorph (SBA): An anthropomorph without complex designs.

Stick figure: An anthropomorphous or zoomorphic rock art motif in which all body parts are depicted as single lines.

Stipple Pecked: Method of making rock images by dimpling the surface in a noncontiguous
pattern, leaving small spaces between individual peck marks.

Style: A standard classification defined by common techniques and attributes, including the range of subjects depicted, the way those subjects are illustrated, and the manner in which the basic elements are combined and organized into compositions. Styles are geographically localized, temporally limited, and generally refer to art of a single cultural entity.

Superimposition: The (normally deliberate) painting or engraving of a new image over an existing image at a later time. This does not include reworking, retouching, or repainting an existing image without altering its original form. It is often difficult to view and record superimposed rock art.

Synchronic: An approach to the study of multiple events occurring more or less contemporaneously, e.g., examining rock art sites from the perspective of a single point in time.
~ T ~
Therianthropic: Figures combining attributes of humans and animals.

Tinaja: Naturally eroded cavities found in rock surfaces useful for collecting rainfall. Tinajas are an important source of surface water storage in arid environments.

Tracing: A recording of rock art made by placing a flexible transparent sheet over the motif and tracing the image upon it, which may damage rock art. No longer an acceptable practice.

Tradition: Groups of two or more styles that are similar in content and expression, and for which a temporal and cultural continuity can be demonstrated.

Type: Descriptive unit for imagery with distinctive attributes and elements, often defined within broad categories such as anthropomorph, zoomorph, abstract; data on time & space may be available; e.g., a stick figure is a type of anthropomorph.
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Vandalism: The defacing or destruction of rock art, or impairing of its scientific potential.

 Varnish: A type of rock patina consisting of a dark, thin accumulation of manganese and
iron-oxides, clay minerals, minor and trace elements which forms in arid and semi-arid environments through the catalyzing action of manganese-oxidizing bacteria.

 Varnish Microlamination (VML): Varnish microlamination (VML), as a correlative dating technique, is relatively new and different in principle and independent of both cation-ratio and AMS 14. Rock varnish is a dark coating on subaerially exposed rock surfaces. It is probably the world's slowest-accumulating sedimentary deposit, growing at only a few to tens of microns per a thousand years. As a unique dating technique, the VML method has great chronometric applications in earth science and geoarchaeology. it can yield minimum-limiting surface exposure ages for various geomorphic features (e.g., alluvial-fan surfaces, desert pavements, hillslope deposits, lava flows, debris flows, fault scarps, meteor crater) and geoarchaeological features (e.g., stone tools, petroglyphs, geoglyphs).
~ Y ~
Ye’i: Navajo holy beings ceremonially depicted by masked dancers and in rock art. Male ye’i are usually drawn with round heads, and female ye’i with square/rectangular or triangular heads. “Yei bi chai” specifically refers to leader or elder ye’i such as Talking God.
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Zoomorph: Any rock art motif of animal-like form, whether stylized or realistic.

 Zoomorphic: Pertaining to a zoomorph.
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