ROCK ART ADVENTURES

I HAVE HAD AN INTEREST IN STUDYING AND RECORDING ROCK ART ALL OF MY ADULT LIFE. THESE PREHISTORIC REMAINS INCLUDE PETROGLYPHS AND PICTOGRAPHS . AT MY GRADUATE SCHOOL TRAINING AT ASU IN TEMPE FROM 1979 - 1984 WE RECORDED PETROGLYPHS OF THE HOHOKAM THAT WERE NEXT TO THE CAMPUS AT TEMPE BUTTES. THIS AREA WAS LOCATED NEXT TO THE GILA RIVER AND HAD NEVER BEEN ANALYZED OR RECORDED. THE CERAMICS AND LITHICS HAD NEVER BEEN RECORDED OR ANALYZED EITHER. OUR GRADUATE CLASS RECORDED THESE FEATURES AND SYMBOLS BY USING VYNAL AND GREASE PENCIL. THE ENTIRE BUTTE IS COVERED WITH THEM. I NOTICED ONE INTERESTING PETROGLYPH - A KOKOPELLI SYMBOL WITH A BASKET PLAYING A FLUTE. NO ONE HAD RECORDED A PETROGLYPH KOKOPELLI SYMBOL BEFORE! IT LOOKED HEAVILY PATINATED AND I DON'T KNOW HOW OLD IT WAS. THERE ALSO WERE CORN GLYPHS AND WATER SYMBOLS WITH WAVE-LIKE DESIGNS.

THE INTERESTING THING WAS THAT THESE GLYPHS WERE COVERED WITH GRAFFITI AND HAD BEEN USED BY MANY PEOPLE WHO HAD WATCHED FOOTBALL IN THE FIELD BELOW, IN ANY CASE WE RECORDED MANY ANTHROPOMORPHIC OR STICK LIKE PEOPLE AND DANCERS AS WELL AS GEOMORPHIC DESIGNS. FOR MY COMPUTER CLASS I WROTE A PAPER ON MYINTERPRETATION OF THIS SITE AND THE PETROGLYPH DESIGNS.

ANOTHER LARGE GROUP OF PETROGLYPHS EXIST IN THE SOUTH MOUNTAINS WHICH WE SAW WHILE HIKING HERE. WE ALSO WORKED WITH A GROUP OF PEOPLE ONE DAY DOWN THE MOUNTAIN AT A PUBLIC EVENT. THERE WERE MANY 80 YEAR OLD FOLKS THAT I SPOKE TO ABOUT THE PREHISTORY OF THE AREA.

CAMELBACK MOUNTAIN TOWARDS THE EAST OF PHOENIX ALSO HAS A GROUP OF PETROGLYPHS THAT ARE MOSTLY GEOMETRIC. IT IS A POPULAR VERTICAL HIKE. ONCE AT THE TOP YOU HAVE A 360DEGREE VIEW OF THE VALLEY.

IN CALIFORNIAN I WORKED FOR STATE PARKS I JOINED A GROUP OF ARCHAEOLOGISTS WHO TRAVELED WITH B. PARKMAN TO VISIT SOME PETROGLYPHS AND VIEWED A NUMBER OF SITES NORTH OF HEALDSBURG AND IN MENDOCINO COUNTY. MANY WERE CUPULES, SNAKELIKE FIGURES, AND CONCENTRIC CIRCLES. CUPULES ARE FOUND WORLDWIDE AND THEY ARE SMALL HANDSIZE PITS IN THE STEATITE OR BASALT ROCKS WHICH WERE TYPICALLY MADE BY WOMEN WHO WANTED A CHILD. THEY ARE CALLED BABYROCKS - ETHNOGRAPHIC LITERATURE SPEAKS ABOUT ONE NEAR CLOVERDALE WHERE A WOMAN WOULD POUND OUT A STEATITE ROCK AND MIX THE ROCK WITH SOME
WATER AND PAINT FOUR LINES ON THEIR CHEST AND ABDOMEN FOR GOOD LUCK FOR HAVING A BABY.

CONCENTRIC CIRCLES REPRESENT A SHAMAN'S JOURNEY IN A TRANCE-LIKE STATE TO THE SPIRITUAL WORLD. IT IS LIKE GOING THROUGH A TUNNEL AND FINDING LIGHT AT THE END OF IT.

SOME GEOMETRICS IN THE HOHOKAM AREA ARE REPRESENTATIVE OF ZIGZAGS, SNAKELIKE S CURVES, WAVELIKE FIGURES, AND SQUARES THAT ARE CONCENTRIC. SOME OF THESE ARE COMMON ON THEIR POTTERY AS WELL.