Petroglyphs & Pictograms

[2LaneCruzer]

I read a book a couple of years ago that discussed the black market trade in antiquities from the southwest. Supposedly one can still find ancient pots and other artifacts in some remote areas and apparently it is very common to find pottery shards everywhere in some desert areas. I don't know this for a fact just what I read.

There are more sites than will probably ever be excavated. Back in the 50's, I attended the University of New Mexico, and took a one year course in Anthropology covering the physical and cultural aspects. I became acquainted with a lanky grad student; he took me out between Albuquerque and Santa Fe in the boonies. He could walk the desert out there and find sites that the uneducated eye would never discern. I still have a Mono that I picked up then, over 50 years ago. The Metate was waaaay too heavy to carry.

 

[kco]

great...ever figure out why the drawings were done, why some childish, some more accurate...why long torso on human body...were they rites of passage,or documentation?? of hunts, or??

There are lots of sites with pictographs here in the Okanagan.

My brother prospected south of here for a gold company in the mid '60's. One rancher showed him several drawings up a remote valley. My brother asked what they meant. He said "I'm not sure, but I think they say " GRAD 1753 ""

Here's a photo of one site near here that is quite accessible, but few people, including natives I've spoken with, know about it:

 

[ncnurseryman]

Mono???

 

[Pine Strip]

I read a book a couple of years ago that discussed the black market trade in antiquities from the southwest. Supposedly one can still find ancient pots and other artifacts in some remote areas and apparently it is very common to find pottery shards everywhere in some desert areas. I don't know this for a fact just what I read.

A local small town Museum was looted for all of it's original Native Indian Artifacts. Investigators suspect pros and the goods went out of the Country. :thumbdown:

 

[Western]

Actually it's "Mano" (means hand in Spanish),the stone used on the base rock (metate, or metyl [sp]) to grind food stuffs. Still used even today in the SW. and mexico

 

[crash325]

In this part of the world artifacts are all over the place. There is a low bluff less than 10 miles away that the Indians carved lots of holes in to catch water. I have a large rock in the yard that has a water catch cut into it. I did have to move it about a mile. About 150 yards is a site the U of A did a dig on several years ago. Broken pottery can still be found there.

I did find a near virgin site a few years ago. Some large broken pottery, lots of small stuff, easy to see where the flint napper worked, lots of small & large spear & arrow points, most broken. Picked up a rock, I call it a polish rock, maybe used to polish arrows. Found a broken Metate nearby. All of this just laying around on top of the ground. Might find some real good things with some digging. Kind of a strange area surrounded by rocks. Work area, grave or ????

 

[ncnurseryman]

Pretty cool though with all those artifacts laying around. In NC you can find arrowheads bit you really have to hunt for them and then are hard too find. I have found two on our property by sheer luck but some folks have found hundreds of arrowheads in other parts of the state.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Actually it's "Mano" (means hand in Spanish),the stone used on the base rock (metate, or metyl [sp]) to grind food stuffs. Still used even today in the SW. and mexico

In the immortal words of Dick Martin, "I didn't know that!" (Dick Martin, ca. 1968). I always thought of it phonetically, guess I never saw the word printed. Always used together, as "Mano and Metate". FWIW, that year of Anthropology, or "Anthro" as we called it, was extremely valuable to me; gave me an insight into other people and other cultures.

 

[Danno1]

great...ever figure out why the drawings were done, why some childish, some more accurate...why long torso on human body...were they rites of passage,or documentation?? of hunts, or??

Different artists, different skill levels???

Just a guess.



.

 

[Pine Strip]

I built a Burm in my backyard patio with a tall quartzite boulder rock in the center of the rock display. Eventually I want to use a dremel tool to replicate some of the Petroglyphs & Pictograms from our local site. Should make a great conversation piece. " Inyan Wakan Tanka" This quote is from a Lakota creation story. Inyan means "rock", and Wakan Tanka means "the Great Mystery".