Show THE BEST GROUP OF mam IN ruthh THE GROUP OF THE GREAT WARRIOR SHIELD SECOND SECONA TO NOSE THE STATE A black man in bas bellef a decapitated head hanging from a iree limb for skill in lit draftsmanship for versatility in variety for harmony and balance in proposition this group Is of remarkable excellence it 14 2 the group of the great 11 arriol with shield one s first glance at this gro p even if of the most currry sort ar rests the attention at once and one Is impressed with its excellence at the first glance one sees the harmony and balance of proportion then one notices the variety the versatility of the draftsman making each one different in some detail from fron the others and yet blending it all into a harmonious ensemble this leads to a study of each in detail figure no I 1 beginning at the left hand figure his headdress is of three curved feathers rising upward no other embellishment there eyes with the paint slant daubed on a plain neck lace fingers on the hands dots tor for a waistband from his left arm arises an un known thing extending toward the left leg of the next figure this may be a narrow flap like part of cloth ing or a streamer but it appears much more plausible to think it was intended to represent a snake baut why what purpose 1 why from the man s shoulder 7 possibly the meaning was plain to the artisan who constructed the group and to his immediately following genera s tion but lost to us of today 1171 figure gure no 2 here we note a different head dress it is castellated and decorah ed with rows of dots and one row immediately under across the brow no paint slants on the eyes his necklace Is composed of ot tour four rows of tiny circles from which a sort of pendant hangs like a worked shell ornament A bar across his stomach below the pendant three rows ot of dots for the waistband fin gers on each hand from his left leg extends a cord or line ending in a curl intent un known the great with shield we now come to an elaboration which is striking here is a great warrior topping his fellows the dominant figure of the group all else is subordinated to him he wears a beautiful headdress much like a mask with side tabs ov er the ears eleven lines decorating it in the upper area two deep cir cles within the side tabs and two pendant tassels almost meeting the shoulders he wears an exquisite necklace of large components as though in tended to represent shells dimmed lately below that a line from the lower arc are of which drops the beav lest and deepest cutting in the group to his waistband this line Is cut so deeply in the rock surface that a lead pencil could be laid in it and not ome come level to the rock wall the components of his shell neck lace are cut so deeply that the sides cast a distinct shadow in the slop ing sides of each one A row TOW of circles drops from the shoulder on either side to the waist band which la Is denoted by b tour four rows ot of small circles an armlet on oil each arm i U fife and strangest to eay say as to an in dian than the knees and calv es of the legs are shown feet in an impossible perspective toes shown from each armpit drops a cord suspending on one a right hand spiral and from the other a left hand spiral back of dimmer as though to denote it was behind Is a large left hand spiral over which his right arm Is drawn the right hand holds a shield it Is a most magnificent affair ho he mer devotes an entire chapter to the magnificent one vulcan forged tor for achilles this one Is decorated with two bands of red paint the tolling toiling artist first rubbed the sur face of the rock smooth for the bands and then put on the pigment which Is now a rather reddish tan possibly weathered from a deeper red originally as the rock face is somewhat exposed and reds nearby are deeper in tint near to maroon the entire surface of the shield other than the bars Is decorated by a profusion of dots leaving no vacant space and below hang five very tasty pendant tabs each in turn decorated with rows of dots it Is the most noteworthy drawing of the ancient indian the writer has as yet seen from his hand runs up a bar with a sudden bend and suspended from it Is a longish narrow object with a similarity to a head with a heavy bent line within its upper area which is locally interpreted as a decapitated head but the writer thinks it Is more plausible to con it as a quiver each person giving it study Is entitled to gues guess and one guess Is as good as another it lends credence to interpretation aa as a much elongated head in that a head does hang from the limb of a tree from the shoulder of figure no 5 and other head hunter glyphs are within a half mile on the neck of the long narrow unknown thing are two heavy bands of black paint name this great warrior take from ancient history the foremost warriors go back farther than the romans to get a simplic ity and an early civilization alexander the great wont do the martial and furious achilles Is to be preferred to that As ashur hurbant bani pal wont tit fit tor for he was short and squat kamesis II 11 always over top ped his foes was shown in a larger scale and put his conquests into en during form rameses the second the name has a good swing to it is 1 well known and has this added colnai dence when the photo was taken a member of the party exclaimed how egyptian I 1 so unless a better Is put forth it will be dubbed the group of ham ram ases II 11 figure no 4 all the rock surface of the entire group except that by fig no 41 4 it on a red sandstone surface of the predominant color of that rock but as Is often the case with sandstone there are black streaks washed down upon it so it Is 1 with noth that area on which fig no 4 rests it Is black so the ancient artisan craftsman with true design sought to utilize thit th it tt difference he cut no 4 in BAS RELIEF he went all around that figure and removed the rock he then cut 1 no 4 in relief in that area thus div ing it a prominence that Is both skillful and adroit figure no 4 Is the plainest of the series there Is less embellishment ie le s decoration yet by the subtle use of this irregular feature that figure stands out boldly draws the e ee e to it and becomes an important part of the group the ancient artist craftsman who created that entire design was a le anarda de vinci a michael angelo a phidias of his day and tribe note that rameses grasps the arm of no 4 with his left hand and that a cord goes form a post set in the ground to both ankles the black man Is a captive of the great and redoubtable rameses who tak es cm em alive no 5 may have a head as trophy but rameses who Is 1 greater made the capture hand to hand and shows his greater prow ess the captive la is now shackled figure no 5 figure no 5 has the most belabor ate headdress of the group again we note the mask effect embracing the side of the face again the pen dant tassels but the chief center of attraction lied lie in the mangni fl cence of the headdress with its lin es heavy dots and its tripartite et ef feet it Is superb his necklace Is second only to that of rameses again the deep c cuttings U t t ings which show the shadows pend pendants ants from it plain lines from s shoulders hou iders to waistband and in the waistband yet another variation from sameness for the designer has differently spaced light lines and a heavy bar the versatility of the artist Is ap parent and draws our admiration from his right shoulder arises a tree with stubby limb from one such limb hangs a decapitated head there are two sets of right arms one goes to the head and one ex tends downward as is usual there Is a laughable feature as to the right foot the draftsman got his first attempt up too high saw his error but as it was cut in it had to be left so he corrected it by drawing another lower down in the position proper tor for correct pro portion figure no 0 6 the amazing command of varia varla lon tion of the ancient designer of this group appears at no greater addan tage than in hla treatment of I 1 ig no 6 although he shows three curving feathers as in no I 1 yet he varies the head makes a solidly cut dome arise within the spread of the feathers entirely unlike no 1 and if the face peeps out at all from that monstrous mask it must do so through that triangular area in the center three rows of circles from the broad necklace to the an arm band in the right hand an unknown something some say the round line with the upright bar through it signi signifies fes a scalp taken ind and treated for adornment of lodge ir or lance A something like it ap pears ears seventy one times near deser et it Is found all over utah and Is mentioned in books on comparisons are invidious they ire are a challenge they invite tion so it if one says these are the besst best in the state he loos 1008 a hornet hornets s nest of proponents sach each with a claim that a group he has IBS in mind is the best the writ ir er will boldy say again these ARE the he best glyphs in the state of utah ind and will await awalt photos or text from others and surely it if others do re ply ly which Is invited and expected here there 1 will result a presentation from which the best can be chosen frank beckwith sr delta utah |