We are familiar with
petroglyphs. We've seen them at various sites in CA, AZ and UT, and were duly impressed. But what we saw this past weekend on our
Petroglyph Tour blew our minds! It is on a naval base, about an hour drive from Ridgecrest, CA.
(TIP: If you are interested, it is imperative you book this in advance.)
Our tour began at 6:30 am sharp Sunday morning at the delightfu
l Maturango Museum. They briefed us, and then we went through a high-security check which took time...
It was nearly 9:30 am before we were at the trail head for Little Petroglyph Canyon. We hiked this pristine canyon, 1 1/2 miles.
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| We're glad they have preserved this canyon. |
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| Beautiful plants abound. |
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| As well as colorful lichen. |
The hike was treacherous at times, for someone like me who doesn't have a good sense of balance.
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| Quite the rock scramble here. |
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| I understand why they insist you wear sturdy shoes. |
Gerry took advantage of his telephoto lens, and took some amazing contest-award winning photographs, in my (admittedly biased) opinion.
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| Numerous etchings upon this rock |
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| As well as this one. |
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| This is truly art! |
No one knows for sure how old these petroglyphs are. A broad range of
dates can be inferred from archaeological sites in the area and some
artifact forms depicted on the rocks. Some of them may be as old as
16,000 years, some as recent as the 1800s. Designs range from animals to
abstract to anthropomorphic figures. Opinions vary widely whether the
petroglyphs were made for ceremonial purposes, whether they are telling
stories to pass along the mythology of their makers, or whether they are
records of hunting hopes or successes, clan symbols or maps.
Everywhere we looked, there were petroglyphs. I can imagine doing this Petroglyph Tour dozens of times and still seeing something new each time. The sunlight and the reflections change the appearance of the drawings. We noticed the views as we walked into the canyon differed from the views as we walked out.
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| Petroglyphs on two adjacent rocks. |
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| I wonder what these symbols mean. What story is the ancient artist trying to tell us? |
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| Is all this done by one artist, or several? |
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| Was this drawing left alone, out of respect for the artist and the beauty of his work? |
Many questions, few answers. It is fascinating. We can use our imaginations to try to understand this glorious art which ancient civilizations left to us.
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| Even the birds are in awe. |
In the words of Arnold...."I'll be back."
