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Show Souvenir Edition Petroglyplas-WMsperBy Dixie Brunner As you study the rock face, it comes alive with ancient depictions of people, animals and symbols. Youre struck with a sense of awe, reverence and a question... are these wThispered secrets from a time long ago? We believe petroglyphs were not considered art to those who put them there, but communication because of the various use of symbols, explained Bureau of Land Management Archeologist Doug McFadden. 23 The Kanab Area Vacation Guide From tine Past s plished by using some kind of a hammer stone. The majority of rock art found in our area is of this variety. Petroglyphs remain more enduring since indentations can better withstand the elements. A pictograph is a painted symbol. Different sites can offer a surprising variety of painted colors. The colors were made by utilizing and mixing natural minerals; pigments such as ochre and some turquoise are quite common. Rock art is often found clustered, occasionally with groups of may have been meant to warn others to stay away from a certain area. One Fremont site near e Calf Creek Falls has pictographs. McFadden said he believes the large, forbidding, homed symbols, were meant to warn people away from favored agricultural areas. The importance of rock art as an archeological clue has only emerged in recent years. We (archeologists), have always liked to dig things, explained McFadden with a smile. He added that it is now believed that rock art may hold some valuable life-siz- clues to the life of peope long ago. Sites can be dated by the superpositioning of the different styles, with the one on top being the most recent. They can also be dated by radio carbon, especially effective with pictographs, since organic pigment can be used for dating. Sites 2,000 years B.C., the Anasazis Barrier Canyon Style, have been found in Kane County. Utilizing tree ring dates, the Basket Makers rock art has also been identified and dated. These people occupied this area from Pictographs, like those pictured above, are painted onto rock, while petroglyphs are etched or peckked into the stone. Photo by Dixie Brunner. While archeologists believe rock art existed all over the United States, the west is a treasure chest for it with more open space and opportunities for study. They also believe that the climate helps to preserve it. Rock art is commonly found in sheltered locations, on rock faces, and is usually found in a separate location from where the people were living at the time. Two distinctions separate types of rock art. A petroglyph is a picture or symbol pecked into the rocks surface. This was accom petroglyphs or pictographs found together. Three styles of rock art common to Kane County are Kayenta, Virgin and Fremont. But were the pictures and symbols the mark of a certain Indian tribe? Not necessarily, said McFadden, While the differences in the symbols are obvious, the similarities are harder to identify. But some symbols were common to certain tribes. We have found figurines which are similar to rock art styles, especially in the Fremont Indians. McFadden adds some symbols A.D. McFadden said the Basket that Makers art is stylistically definable. The most recent style found here is Eastern Kayenta, which is late A.D. Pueblo and dated 1100-120- 0 One rock art style, exclusive to Kane and Washington counties, is the Cave Valley Style, identified by symbols which are triangular in shape. For tourists hoping to see a good rock art panel with only minimal hiking, there is one in South Fork Indian Canyon, northwest of Kanab in the vicinity of Coral Pink Sand Dunes. (Get a BLM map for directions). McFadden encourages people to photograph but not to touch any rock art. And as you gaze upon the mysterious drawings from long ago, do you hear the whisper of a secret? 100 B.C.-40- 0 Kane County is 4,373 square miles, 3,718 of it is Bureau of Land Management Land. 437 sq. mi. is state land, and only 21 8 sq. mi. is privately owned. The land size of Kane County is larger than the states of Delaware, Rhode Island and the District of Columbia combined. Bankers, CP o. I nraYL m2 I estate sh KANE COUNTY'S FULL SERVICE REALTOR ww'w.coldw'ellbanker.com Lvw'w.UtahMountains.com Kanab 1 -4- 35-559-9753 Duck Creek IslI rmnoum owamim jfcm 2000 Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corporation. Coldwell Banker is a registered trademark of Coldwell Banker Corporation An Equal Opportunity Company Equal Housing Opportunity Each Office Is Independently Owned And Operated. A |