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Show Indians wrote on rocks The petroglyphs in Parowan Gap near the town of that name in Iron County are among the most interesting in-teresting and best preserved of those in Southern Utah. Several centuries ago Indians passing through this gap stopped long enough to make a few markings on some of the smooth-surfaced boulders. Over the years many others did the same thing until most of the suitable surfaces were covered with figures and designs. Archeologists call this form of expression petroglyphs. This means "rock" or "rock" writings. They were usually made by pecking away the surface of the boulder with another stone. What was the purpose of the petroglyphs? They probably were intended by their makers to represent concepts or ideas. However, the designs do not signify exact words of any language and, thus, are not hieroglyphs. The petroglyphs you see here probably represent the work of different groups or individuals over a long period of time. Prehistoric Indians of the corn-growing Sevier-Fremont Sevier-Fremont culture lived in this area a thousand years ago. Present consensus is that semi-nomadic hunting and gathering ancestors of the present-day southern Paiute probably carved the designs. Because most of the petroglyphs in the In-termountain In-termountain Area are found along or near game trails, some Great Basin archeologists ar-cheologists believe petroglyph designs were part of religious hunting ritual. It was intended to insure good hunting for a people dependent upon animals as a major source of food. Parowan Gap is a natural route through these low mountains between two valleys. Indians used it for a foot trail as we now use it for a road. The site is on the National Register of Historic Places. The Preservation of American Antiquities Act of June 8, 1906, provides for protection of Indian ruins, artifacts, and "any object of antiquity" which you may find on national resource lands (formerly called public lands). The act states that a person may not, without permission, "appropriate, excavate, injure, or destroy any historic or prehistoric ruin or monument, or any object of antiquity", such as rock writings, on lands under federal government control. Protected are hieroglyphs, pottery and human remains, as well as ruins of dwellings or other structures. - |