Butler Wash Archaeological District
Rock Art
This page contains a discussion of the rock art found within the Butler Wash Archaeological District in Utah. 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.
The Butler Wash Archaeological District runs north and south from just west of Blanding, Utah, to where the wash has its confluence with the San Juan river, west of Bluff, Utah. All along the wash are ruins, cliff dwellings, and petroglyph and pictograph panels. The panels that we've seen aren't heavily worked, but the images tend to be large and elaborate and very fascinating.
For more information on how to preserve and protect these priceless historic treasures:
- Archaeological Resources Protection Act Hotline: 800-227-7286.
- See Archaeological Site Etiquette.
- See American Antiquities Act of 1906.
- See Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979.
- See More Rock Art Sites.
Ballroom Complex
North of the Butler Wash Ruins Overlook there are several cliff dwellings that are known as the Ballroom Complex. Behind one of the multi-storied structures within the Ballroom Ruins, high up the side of a cliff, and under an alcove, are these pictographs of anthropomorphs and painted hands. There is quite a collection in red, white, and yellow. |
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Wolfman Panel
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| In the lower section of Butler Wash, north of the Sand Island Recreation Area, in a remote area, there are a set of ruins and what is known as the Wolfman Panel (probably named after the anthropomorph below or the pair of wolf prints associated with this panel and the large human figure). The main image at the top of this page is a close up of part of the panel above. This is one of the more striking panels that we've seen anywhere, with the well formed images in stark contrast to the dark desert varnish covering the light colored sandstone beneath. There are several unusual features, which include two bird zoomorphs, a large well defined anthropomorph, what appears to be a shamans pouch, and two large inverted tear drop images; as well as a wolf prints and other smaller objects. One of the zoomorphs appears to be a shore bird, like a killdeer, while the other appears to be a stylized stork or heron. The anthropomorph is unusual in that there are well defined knees and large feet, and that the figure is close to five feet tall. |
This anthropomorph or zoomorph may represent a human in some sort of bear costume, or it may actually represent a bear standing on its hind legs. However, the feet seem to be human, while the hands seem to be those of a bear. Or is this a wolfman? In any case, it is striking in its pose and message. |
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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.
