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Show 2A Emery County Progress Tuesday, November 19, 1991 coemto mm& The art of rock art By LARRY W. DAVIS Progress editor CASTLE DALE- -A ' Indian, including those native to Alaska. In the final portion of the pletho- ra of information about rock art and pictorgraphs of the San Rafael Desert and southeastern Utah was presented in a lecture and slideshow offered by David Sucec at the Museum of the San Rafael Nov. 8. The focus of the program was on the prehistoric Barri- er Canyon paintings and engravings of the San Rafael Swell. However, the discussion involved over a hundred slides of rock art and picto-grapof the Barrier Canyon, Fremont and Anasazi cultures hs as well as more contemporary rock art of the American . presentation, Mr. Sucec discussed rock art vandalism and showed several slides of priceless drawings which have been damaged by vandals. Regarding the removal of parts of rock art, Mr. Sucec said, People who do these things may get little parts of the art, but so many others will never know this art. These pieces could be the parts we need to unlock the mysteries. It destroys our opportunity of ever understanding these cultures. Mr. Sucec, who is a Utah Humanities Council Research Fellow for 1991, pointed to the STARVTHEATRI Dr. Dennis Blackburn 7 p.m. Ends Thurs! William Hurt & Elizabeth Perking star In one of Foot Specialist the best pictures of the year. for: infants, children, and adults will be at the THE DOCTOR Emery Medical Clinic Tues. afternoons 1 6 Call 687-927- 5 f :00 pm Buckhom Wash vandalism as one of the most costly in rock art. He said that some experts have placed the Buckhom art at some 5,000 years before the Fremont culture. That art includes several spiritual fig- ures who are . apparently involved in a tribal ritual. The Buckhom panel has been damaged by graffiti and firearms over the years and is one of the most heavily CANYON VIEW STUDENT OF THE WEEK Sally Stephens and Brandon Pierce have been chosen as Canyon View Junior High School's student of the week. Sally Is in the ninth grade. She eroys the outdoors, fishing and all wildlife. She also enjoys school, especially chorus, art, drama and sports. She loves to play the piano, harmonica, and to dance. Music will be a big part of her future. Brandon Pierce is the son of Brent & Valerie Pierce of Huntington. Brandon Is in the ninth grade. He is a member of the National Jr. Honor Society. He loves to hunt, fish, and water ski. His favorite sport Is basketball. He has the hope of attending college and becoming a doctor In the future. Sponsored by N Shop Huntington BK's Stop ' r although it remains as one of the most important. He said that such damage can be restored but that it takes money, and the federal government has not appropriated the necessary funds. He suggested that one way to preserve such rock art would be to place it under some kind of control and place access fees on it. If it will make money, people will generally support it, he said. He said the Buckhom panel is extremely difficult to protect because it lies along a roadway and because few people are at the site at any one time. Another area, Sego Canyon which is near the Colorado damaged and vandalized, but because of its location near an old mining area and ghost town, it could be turned into a heritage park. Federal funds could be appropriated for such preservation. Mr. Sucec said that at one time it was legal to remove rock art, so much of the damage was caused before laws prevented the removal. Also, he said that some of the Indian rock art damage is from Indians themselves. He said that peeking (the removal of certain parts; of the art by chipping away at the rock) was common among the cultures as members of tribes or their ancestors or rival tribes attempted to take spiritual powers from the drawings. Mr. Sucec said that the Barrier Canyon rock art is among the most significant in North America and that some of the most important rock art exists on the San Rafael. He said paint (a sacred color), was often done in blues, greens, yellows and blacks. These were people who really knew how to paint, he said. They studied their subjects before they painted them. Painting was part of their culture and existed for thousands of years." He suggested that most estimates place the Barrier Culture from 500 BC to 500 AD although such dates are inconclusive. Mr. Sucec compares the rock art to paintings, and as an artist himself, he says he tends to look at the art in different ways than an archeolo- 7 3. These were Utahs first expressionist painters, he said. They were involved in some 30,000 years of painting tradition. He said that true artists are those who are like explorers, moving forward. Also, he pointed out that rock art is the only thing we can look at that isnt reconstructed. It exists where it was meant to be, he said. He called the art classical images because we do not know anything about the artists and cant tell exactly how the art was made. He also called some of the images, such as that of a hand image created by paint being blown around a hand placed on a rock, expressionistic images, and he referred to the fine lines and curves of the art as stylization. that the Barrier Canyon Somewhat unique to the art extends from the Colorado is the creation of depth, the border and north and west of sacred figures, the use of large the Colorado River in south- Australia. eastern Utah. The subject matter and reliAlthough there is insuffigious aspects of the rock art cient evidence to deem the include such common trends Indians of the Barrier Canyon as the use of white dots, horia culture, Mr. Sucec said that zontal and vertical lines and the evidence offered in the feathers, apparently used by rock art suggests that the Indians out of respect for aniinhabitants of the area may mals killed for food, clothing have been a unique group and shelter as well as to renew which broke off from larger life. The feathers were e Indians to attached, to the Indians by groups of North America and settled in means of blood. Also, the art, the area although constantly although mostly done in red on the move because of surviand small figures and the abilval needs. ity of the Indian artists to creHe pointed out similarities ate figures in the Fremont, Anasazi and through use of lines and side Barrier cultures, especially in views. The large audience asked relationship to shamanistic imagery. The shaman was a several questions of the guest religious figure common in speaker, and he said that he rock art of North America. and his associates are putting That comparison extended together a mayor show to be also to art of Alaskan cultures held at the University of Utah and even cultures in in 1993. 4" 'V i. 22- - Y ' IV. - ft - ('Alt - Tf & j- - David Sucec lectures to guests at the Museum of the San Rafael last week. The noted expert on rock art discussed local rock art session and pictographs of the San Rafael area during a last Friday. Photos by Larry Davis missionary Steven Gordon Elder Steven D. Gordon, son of Dennis and Peggy Gordon, has accepted a call to serve in the England London Mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. His meeting will be Sunday, Nov. 24, at 10:50 a.m. in the Huntington Stake Center on Main Street. He enters the Missionary Training Center on Dec. 4, 1991. 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