San Rafael Swell
Rock Art:
Buckhorn Cattleguard
This page contains a discussion of the rock art found on the Buckhorn Cattleguard Panel within the San Rafael Swell 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.
This site is about three miles down Buckhorn Draw. Located in an overhang at the base of Navajo sandstone on the north side of the canyon are many petroglyphs and some charcoal pictographs. These have been numbered and outlined in chalk, apparently for photographic purposes for some survey.
There are many Desert Bighorn, deer, stick figures, hand-holding anthropomorphs, and geometric designs. There are no typical Fremont Culture anthropomorphs. The few charcoal figures are stylistically like the petroglyphs. This site is closely related to the Northern San Rafael style of Fremont rock art. There is evidence that this was a habitation site, but much information has been destroyed by repeated pot hunting and other vandals.
- 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.
Other rock art sites within the San Rafael Swell:
Photo Gallery
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.
Select an image to see a full sized version.
| Anthropomorphs | |
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BCG008: A series of five cone headed anthropomorphs holding hands. |
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BCG010: Four stick figured anthropomorphs with ball shaped heads. They are linked together in a line. |
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BCG015: This figure has a spiral torso, or is standing behind a spiral shield. It has legs and feet, but no arms. The head is bucket shaped and has three horns. |
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BCG022: This figure is holding what might be a spear at waist level. In a modern view, it looks like a rock star playing a guitar. |
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BCG032: This figure could be a basket, or, perhaps, it is a baby in a cradle board that would be worn on the mother's back. You can see the head of the infant protruding from the top. |
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BCG040: This stick figure appears to have four arms. There is a figure similar to this at the Buckhorn Cove site. |
| Geometric Figures and Patterns | |
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BCG013: A variety of lines and dots. |
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BCG018: The central figure may be an atlatl, but I'm not convinced of that. There is also a set of three circles to the left. |
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BCG025: There is a mixture of petroglyphs and pictographs in this image, but nothing that is readily identifiable. |
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BCG033: Part of a set of concentric circles or a two lined arch. Or something else all together. |
| Panels | |
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BCG001: A broad view of the main panel at this site. |
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BCG014: A closer view of a portion of the main panel showing what might be the story of a journey across valleys and over mountains. |
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BCG039: A long view of the main panel at this site. |
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BCG017: A close up of part of the main panel, showing some of the charcoal pictographs, part of the journey story, and a well-defined Desert Big Horn. |
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BCG024: Part of the journey story, with several graphic images. |
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BCG030: The main portion of one of the secondary panels at this site. |
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BCG038: A close up of several of the Desert Big Horn on BCG030. |
| Plants | |
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BCG036: What appears to be some sort of plant with what may be a seed pod. |
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BCG037: A closer view of BCG036. |
| Zoomorphs | |
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BCG002: Several Big Horn sheep around a bull elk. |
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BCG003: A nicely formed Desert Big Horn sheep. |
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BCG004: A bull elk. |
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BCG005: Two or three Desert Big Horn sheep. |
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BCG006: An Desert Big Horn with an elongated body. |
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BCG007: A Desert Big Horn sheep. |
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BCG009: A Desert Big Horn sheep standing next to what appears to be a picket fence. |
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BCG011: Could be a Desert Big Horn or a pronghorn. |
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BCG012: This Desert Big Horn is unusual for the rectangular shape of its body. This is similar to one found at the nearby Buckhorn Draw site. |
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BCG016: A Big Horn walking along a series of dots toward a circle. Could this represent herding into a fenced area for capture? |
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BCG019: An anthropomorph that appears to have a bow facing an elk buck. |
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BCG020: A Desert Big Horn (possibly a ram) and a smaller Big Horn or pronghorn. If this is not a ram, then this could be a birthing scene. |
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BCG021: A Desert Big Horn. |
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BCG023: What looks like a Desert Big Horn ram. |
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BCG026: A Desert Big Horn with an elongated body. |
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BCG027: It's difficult to tell, but this may be a Desert Big Horn. |
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BCG028: Probably a Desert Big Horn. |
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BCG029: Some sort of a zoomorph. |
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BCG031: A Desert Big Horn ram with several smaller zoomorphs. |
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BCG034: A Desert Big Horn sheep. |
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BCG035: Some sort of a zoomorph. |
