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Sand Island |
Natural Bridges NM |
Butler Wash |
Cave Creek |
Valley of the Gods |
Monument Valley |
Sand Island is not an island at all, but rather a BLM Recreation Area on the banks of the San Juan River that happens to have a large petroglyph panel on the cliff overlooking the area. The site is easy to find - it's a drive-up.
Some of the petroglyphs are very old, some being from the Archaic Period. Others are much more recent, some being less than 500 years old. There are petroglyphs on top of petroglyphs and many of them are old enough that the rock has repatinated over the figures making them hard to distinguish.
There is also a lot of modern graffiti (i.e. - vandalism) visible.
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| Ancient art and modern vandalism | Sand Island petroglyphs | Note the Kokopelli | ||
There are several Kokopelli figures at Sand Island. Kokopelli is still an important figure in modern Puebloan culture.
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| Another Kokopelli | Sand Island petroglyph panel | And several more Kokopellis | ||
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| Sand Island petroglyphs | ||||
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| Sand Island shaman petroglyphs | ||||
The depiction of horses and/or guns is a clear indication of "Modern" (post-1500 AD) rock art since neither was introduced to the Americas until the 16th Century.
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| Spider Woman (A central figure in Southwest religions) | A "modern" petroglyph (less than 500 years old) | |||
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Natural Bridges National Monument contains three major "bridges." One of them (Sipapu Bridge) is one of the largest bridges in the world. Bridges are produced by the erosion of moving water (streams). But for present purposes, the main interest is the petroglyphs, pictographs and ruins in the canyons.
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| Sipapu Bridge | Kachina Bridge - There are ruins, petroglyphs and pictographs under the left side of the bridge. | Owachomo Bridge | ||||
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| Petroglyphs | What is it? | The snake is a common theme in ancient rock art. | ||||
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| A butterfly? | A map, perhaps? | Faint Archaic petroglyphs | ||||
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| A kiva with pictographs painted on the inside walls. | And both pictographs and petroglyphs on the wall behind the kiva | Note the holes pecked in the chests of the interior pictographs | ||||
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Butler Wash is west of Blanding, Utah. There are numerous archaeological sites along the wash. These are quite close to the highway.
Cave Creek is an undeveloped site with the remains of at least seven towers.
The Valley of the Gods is a BLM administered area with a number of unique geological formations. Extremely scenic.
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| Valley of the Gods | Valley of the Gods | Valley of the Gods | ||||
Monument Valley is on the east side of the highway from Valley of the Gods. Monument Valley is Navajoland - and also very scenic.
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| Monument Valley | Morning fog in Monument Valley | Monument Valley | ||||
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| Mexican Hat | Monument Valley | Monument Valley | ||||
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Created: 25 Nov 2009
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