Thursday, April 1, 2010

Rock Art Series - San Pedro River #2

Here is the second set of rock art from the San Pedro River.  These panels, approximately 1/4 mile north and slightly west of the previous, are located about 200 meters from the San Pedro itself.  They are part of a huge rock outcrop area, and I suspect there were probably several others located on rocks above and out of view of these main petroglyphs.  Due to weather conditions, a weary dog, and the presence of numerous thorny shrubs, such as catclaw acacia, that managed to shred exposed areas of my arms and legs, I opted not to explore further than I did.

Solo Deer

Three's a Crowd
These charming stick people are a common motif of Hohokam rock art.  

Concentric Circles, joined
These abstract designs are thought to possibly be astronomical or possibly a shamanistic "vision" in nature.   An enigmatic image, to be sure.

Snake and multi-limbed figure (centipede?)
These look to be done at different times by different artists, based on the line forms.  They may have been done hundreds of years apart, in fact.

Connected boxes
The large panel of connected box shapes is referred to as a "pipette" by the author of the South Mtn. rock art book.  These occur frequently in the South Mountains, which are about 200 miles away.  

References and further reading on the Hohokam, rock art, and other indigenous peoples of AZ:

Bostwick, Todd W.  Landscape of the Spirits:  Hohokam Rock Art at South Mountain Park.  University of AZ Press, 2002.

Reid, James Jefferson.  The Archaeology of Ancient Arizona.  University of AZ Press, 1997

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