San Rafael Swell
Rock Art:
Head of Sinbad—North
This page contains a discussion of the rock art found on the Head of Sinbad—North 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.
The Head of Sinbad is a colorful area in the San Rafael Swell, located in central Utah. This site, which contains two small pictograph panels, is located on a yellow Wingate sandstone cliff about 200 feet high.
The westernmost of the paintings is one of the most surrealistic pieces of rock art encountered in Utah. It consists of two large anthropomorphs and their attendant tiny animals (spirit helpers?). One of the figures is the Bug-eyed Man, also found at several other Barrier Canyon sites. The other figure has a bulbous head with two large antennae. Both have long narrow torsos from which short arms and legs extend; hands and feet are neatly drawn. There is a snake near the heads of each figure and at least six small birds fly around the antennae of the right-hand figure.
The easternmost panel consists of a single anthropomorph and attendant animals and designs. This figure is also a Bug-eyed Man, with a wide head and huge, starry eyes. His body is decorated with a herringbone design and vertical stripes. There are also tiny arms and legs projecting from a long torso. Over his head floats a realistic snake. One either side of the anthropomorph are two designs of lone lines hanging from a rounded upper portion. To the left of the panel is a realistically drawn quadruped standing on its hind legs with fore legs outstretched in a human fashion. A similar critter can be seen at the Black Dragon Canyon site.
- 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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SN005: The two anthropomorphs to the west on this panel. They appear to be Barrier Canyon Style, especially based on the left figure, with its bug eyes. These figures may represent shamans, as they appear to be surrounded by spirit helpers. |
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SN013: This is the right figure in SN005. It appears to be holding a snake. Note also the concentric circles on the chest. |
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SN010: This is a close up of the head in image SN013. Not the small birds flying about the head. |
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SN014: This is a closer look at the left figure in SN005. Many Barrier Canyon Style anthropomorphs do not show any appendages. But note the left arm and hand on this figure. The fingers are very life-like and articulated. |
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SN015: Here's a close up view of SN014. To us modern viewers this face has a strong resemblance to the alien in the movie ET. |
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SN007: This is a close up of the small figures aligned between the two main figures in SN005. It's hard to say what these might be. |
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SN002: This is the anthropomorph from the eastern group on this panel. The figure has the google eyes like SN015. It also has a well defined snake over its head. Note that both the hands and feet have holes in them. |
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SN012: This is a close up of the head in image SN002. |
| Geometric Figures and Patterns | |
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SN011: There are several of these feathered circles to the right of the right figure ins SN005. |
| Panels | |
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SN004: This is a broad view of the entire group in the eastern portion of this site. You can see that several of the figures have been covered by the natural flow of sediments down the face of the cliff. |
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SN001: This is a view of the main exposed grouping in the eastern portion of this site. The images speak for themselves. |
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SN006: This is a broad view of the entire group in the western portion of this site. Again, you can see that several figures have been obscured by the sediments washing down the face of the cliff. |
| Zoomorphs | |
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SN003: This is a close up of the small zoomorph (spirit helper) associated with the eastern anthropomorph. It's difficult to determine what it might represent, but note that it also has holes in both hands and feet, similar to the associated anthropomorph. |
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SN008: These are the bird-like figures that appear to be flying over the head of the anthropomorphs in SN005. |
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SN009: This figure can also be seen in SN005. It is no doubt a bird, but has the appearance of a penguin in flight. |
