Bandelier National Monument: Rock Art

A cairn found in Cohab Canyon, Capitol Reef National Park.

Frank and Anne's Canyon Country Hiking and Camping Notebook.

Bandelier National Monument

Campsite

This page contains a discussion of the rock art found within Bandelier National Monument. All photographs are from our our personal collection. If you'd like to see more rock art from this location, or if you'd like to see higher resolution or larger images, send us an e-mail message and we'll see what we can do.

Rock Art

There are many examples of petroglyphs and a few pictographs throughout Frijole Canyon and at Tsankawi. There are other locations within the Monument that also have rock art panels. What you'll see here are the few images that were were able to spot on our visit.

For more information on how to preserve and protect these priceless historic treasures:

See American Antiquities Act of 1906.
See Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979.
Archaeological Resources Protection Act Hotline: 800-227-7286.
See Archaeological Site Etiquette.

Many of the images we spotted were associated with the cliff dwellings and habitated caves. Because of the soft tuff (hardened volcanic ash) that makes up the cliff face, many of the images are badly eroded and difficult to see. The main image on this page is one of the few examples of pictographs in the main canyon. The red design was probably the back wall of a dwelling that has long since crumbled away. The Park Service has covered this wonderful example with a glass plate to protect it from vandalism and the elements.

The anthropomorph image above could represent a Kachina, with its square head and feather plumes.

	As with other rock art sites, there are plenty of the common spirals and concentric circles. Some say they represent the entrance to the underworld and may be part of shamanistic ceremonies.

Under a shallow overhand we found this zoomorphic image of what looks to be a toucan. There has been much archaeological evidence that the Ancestral Puebloans traded goods with the Aztec in central Mexico. Although, this toucan is unusual in that it appears to have four legs instead of two legs and two wings.

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More Rock Art

All of these photos have been resized and manipulated in Photoshop to give the best representation of the image. Some color distortion is inevitable. If you would like to see higher quality versions of these shots, or if you would like to use these images for any purpose, please contact us and we would be glad to help if we can.

Anthropomorphs

Faces

Geometric Designs

Zoomorphs

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This page was last updated Monday, June 15, 2009

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