Sand Island Recreation Area
Rock Art
This page contains a discussion of the rock art found within the Sand Island Recreation Area near Bluff, 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 rock art on the large panel at Sand Island Recreation Area is quite impressive because of the density of the images, the style of the drawings, and the variety of zoomorphs and anthropomorphs portrayed on the sandstone surface. Many of the images are difficult to discern due to weathering and the angle of the sun. Some of the images are high up on the panel, and will require binoculars and zoom or telephoto lenses to capture.
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.
The main image at the top of this page shows a small segment of the main panel, and includes an interesting anthropomorph with an hour-glass figure that appears to be wearing some sort of dress or gown. Is this possibly a female figure? The image to the right shows a well-endowed Kokopelli figure playing his flute. Since Kokopelli is considered a fertility being or deity it would appear that this particular fellow would be in great demand. There are several Kokopelli images scattered over the entire panel, but some are more weathered than others and require some patience and persistence to locate.
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One of the unique features of this panel are the death masks clustered together in one are of the panel, high up the side of the cliff face. One wonders how the creators of these images were able to climb that high up a sheer cliff to produce these images. Perhaps they used long ladders or built some sort of scaffolding. The images apparently resemble the masks placed over the face of the deceased in some regional burial sites. They can be quite frightening and exude an eerie otherworldly character.
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One of the unusual zoomorphs that we spotted at this location is this Big Horn sheep standing on its hind legs, playing Kokopelli's flute. Does the Big Horn represent a clan that was made up of good musicians? One never knows what this "goatipelli" might truly represent. In any case, it's a fascinating piece. |
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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.
