These are select rock art sites, as linked to my book, This Bad Land, which is a view on all the significant badland regions in Amrtica, even in New York, my home state. like This Bad Land, most shots of the rock art was illuminted at night by moonlight. My main mode out here was to use extreme exposure with the slowest, most resoved film ever made, Ektar 25. Coincidentlly this film was one of the best at correcting for reciprcocity, meaning the exponential increase in exposure times as length of exposure grows. Light meters were useless, except for devising a way to actually read night light, by taking the white plastic dome off the meter, which would then register a reading. Then, simply, subtracting the effect of the plastic dome, which was 21/2 stops of light, and doubling that, i got nicely exposed negatives, and, being negatives, could be color balamced to compensate for color shifts du to the film being exposed too long.
The curious thing for a photographer and rock art, is that color film photography is not archival at all and will fade in under fifty years unless climate controlled where you literally have to store the film like fruit, because of the organic couplers used to bind the three colors that make up the the final image. American tribes could make color last for 5,000 years or longer under desert conditions or protected rock alcoves, done with their unkonown binders, the pictographs became archival. Not that much of a problem with petroglyphs that are carved in stone. Still, the amount of lost rock art, from erosion, rock falls and rising waters has to be great. The oldest rock carvings are in Nevada and date back to between 10,500 and 14,800 years ago, and our current state of mind with regards to Amecan origins is that peopls got here 35,00 years ago.
Especially in Utah, whenever i did a badland run, i would also visit certain rock art sites that were nearby. These sites, unfortunately, don’t have their original names. Part of the appeal of rock art is that it’s so old we will never know the the details of it, including how it was referred to, let alone, why. All of which becomes of less importance the more one experiences the art, or, when it delivers the message without looking for it, except intuitively, excluding all other forms of knowledge as useless.
Rock art, the oldest native art in this country that’s still in existence, evolved organically like no other. There was great wisdom, that was probably more coincidental, in their methods beginning with carving and painting stone using long-lasting mineral paint dyes, and, most importantly, its binder, that were archival as hell, and the dry desert climates helped as well.
In the Bronx, today, in Van Cortlandt Park, the spirit of carving, using nature as material and a home for display lives on. K.D. left a tool behind. Since it’s a city park, the work was done in isolation and is hidden off the trail. It’s better that way, for everyone, because, when you accidentally come across it, it’s a nice experience.
Obviously tons of Native American art and artifacts were not made archival, and, with nomadic, tribes there’s only so much you can carry. When horses were obtained the nomadic tribes became richer, had more leisure time and could carry more stuff they made, but they were not living in cities, let alone permanent dwelling sites.
What’s interesting about the natives here, in what we call, America, is, since arriving, perhaps 35,000 years ago, until the time of the Europeans, is how young this country is when it comes to inhabitants, even compared to South and Central America. Clearly Europe, Asia and Africa had tremendous civilizations, thousands of years ago. Given how things were back then, the Natives in America would not have fared well under. even these, faraway ancient regimes who lacked the interest in sailing west, but were interessted in domination, more than trade, unlike the later northern Europeans, who, at least, initially were only interested in trade and religious conversions, even though, small pox didn’t care about your motives.
Other tribes of Central and South America – Aztecs, Myans and Incas – while having no beasts of burden, managed to create large cities with impressive architecture, culture, infrastructure and politics. Still, the Aztecs used obsidian for knives and swords, the spear, club, bow and arrow were dominant. And the Aztecs war had reached such a level of sophistication that battles became symbolic, and, it was all about kidnapping, not immediate death in the field, but later in public displays, the victims painted, sometimes drugged/intoxicated, one by one, being murdered by priests.
Mayans had tremendous celestial knowledge, designing entire cites around astronomical events.
In North America there were cities like Cahokia in Illionois with 20,00 people in 1250, or in the southwest, but the tribes further south in Central America were wonders, often in evil ways. But, still was outpaced technologically by China, Europe and Africa, most likely due to America, here, relatively speaking, being so young. Things like the wheel was non-existent in all the Americas until Spaniards showed up.
If we break it down to communication, the American Natives were a young culture, relatively speaking, and extremely visual. Documentation didn’t have a place like today, and written words were superseded by pictures, sounds, graphic symbols written in smoke, hides, clothing and stone. Art, was also tied to battle, requiring special costumes, charms and attire. There’s examples of Lakota pictographs about historical events like battles, done on cloth, that uses only pictures which seems as close to documentation (duplication) as they got. The ancient American rock art that still is around, is not about documentation, but it is communication, which gives it a lot of credibility as art. It’s as though, the need for completely accurate proof wasn’t necessary, to ancient societies in America. More accurately, painted and carved rock was probably reserved for the most significant ideas and symbols for a tribe, that is not a band of individuals, as much as it is communal, and not necessarily nomadic, since, in Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, were known for large Native towns and cities.
Another interesting marker about rock art is its continued preservation through wild swings in history, culture and countries, not to mention, the simple, but sure, facts of erosion, climate, geography and geology. All over the world stone art survived thousands of years, and now that there is great awareness, it gets into the mix of mass societies and gets stolen, damaged, vandalized and intentionally destroyed by the newer philosophies of nihilism or, much worse, hate, and plain idiocy. One of the big examples of this is when the Taliban blew up the Two Buddhas. But, as Americans, before getting on our high horse, there was the dynamiting of an original Rodin’s The Thinker, in Cleveland in 1971 by vandals or political activists or both, or the climate activists today who find museums to their liking.
https://matadornetwork.com/read/vandalized-rock-art-big-bend/
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/someone-destroyed-1000-year-old-indigenous-art-georgias-chattahoochee-national-forest-180977453/
At a site called Castle Gardens, certainly not a tribal name, your typical kindergarten goofball American version of nihilism, spent a lot of time carving the petroglyphs of his asshole existence into the rock once used by Natives for a purpose far different than vandalism. Head good? No. Head bad.
Shot was done in 1997, and there was a tall cyclone steel fence that was put around all the rock art. My lens couldn’t fit through so i had to climb into the enclosure. It’s human nature, therre’s always gonna be the ones who abuse freedom, not to mention, the abuse of ancients and history. Freedom had to be inventd by Americans. The tribes of Natives, they had a lot of natural-born freedom, with one big worry, that another more powerful tribe would rob their freedom or worse. With the exception of the Headhunter series outside of Vernal, there is little violence depicted. Shields, representing defensive moves, are common.
Like rock art, itself, the names of the tribe of assholes who defaced the site, will remain unknown. Only a rat, or change of heart might change that. Defacing, vandalism and hate is nothing new when it comes to purposely screwing up sites, especially in the modern times. The two Buddhas the Taliban blew up or Russian porn stars posing sexually at The Pyramids, are two of many examples. Although not the majority, by far, of these folks, with big mass socities comes greater numbers of asses that will always exist.
Shield of stone, Castle Gardens, Wyoming.
Goblin Valley, Utah, 1997, 90 minute exposure using Ektar 25 film, and a full moon as the light source. Even outside the rock art sites. the landscape itself is subject to the whims of the American version of vandalissm, or, maybe all vandalism, which doesn’t contemplate or think for a monent, but simply immediatelt does what can only make sense to them. A group of hikers made up of adults and teens got in a lot of trouble here in Goblin Valley by overturning the naturally occurring formations. Why not?
I shot every major American badlands between 1994 and 2002. The rock art i came across, obviously, needed rock, so the badlands of New Mexico, South Dakota, Montana and New York were clays, mudstones, and soft rock that would disappear quickly. Utah, had great badlands that tended to harder sandstones, yet still erodes quickly, but not like the dirt badlands. Most importantly Utah with all its exposed rock, canyons and washes had places close to its badlands where rock art would last, often protected in alcoves and overhangs, which kept the rock surface from eroding.
At Temple Mountain, in Utah, graffitti from 1977 and 17 bullet holes says a lot about our times.
This panel, in good shape, although it looks like some hits were done, is known as the “Moqi” Queen. We will never know, unlike more carvings and pictographs left by Anazai and moderns, from 1924, who put their time spent there, and names, fortunately, around the area of the panel and not on it.
Hybrids of animals and humans, like this part human, part cat with a shield, located in the San Raefel Swell, Utah, by itself, isolated but for a dirt track. They call it the Lone Warrior, and, like other Barrier Canyon style art in the area, it’s thought they are between 3,000 and 4,000 years old. However, modern technical advances, claiming an age closer to 1,000 years, has been put forth.
Just north of Vernal, at McConkie Ranch in Dry Fork Canyon, this panel and the ones below, cover 200 feet, along a cliff face in the Navajo formation sandstone. It’s believed the petroglyphs were crafted somewhere around 1-1200 CE., and, are Fremont Native American culture. These Vernal head hunter panels are illuminated by moon light in one hour exposures.
A Horned Headhunter
These carvings are known for their violence and are sometimes referred to as the headhunters since there are so many disemobied heads being displyayed. Some even have enormous feet.
More Headhunter petroglyphs here.
McKees, setting sun.
McKees in moonlight.
McKees in moonlight.
This exquisite panel, and the experience of finding it, is a good example of the thrill of rock art, when, with just an idea of where the site is located, it is found. And just in time with this shot, which, after a long drive over a rugged track, and a couple of miles of hiking up a wash and canyon, there, at twilight, it’s found and recorded in a way that, i hope, embeds in the viewers minds, an easy appreciation and respect for the work of the ancients in America.
It’s known as the “Transformation Panel” but that’s an reinvented way to “explain” the site and/or communicate its existence. I’m sure the original author(s) of the tribe, probably had a different moniker for what they created, way out here in the San Raefel Sweii, Utah.
A section of, what’s come to be known as, The “Great Gallery” in Horseshoe Canyon.
Great Gallery, Detail
The Ghost Panel at the “Great Gallery” is another modern name for what is unknown. Its a long, hard hike and a long haul back to the highway on a dirt track with a jeep, which might keep the ones whose intention is ruin, low.
You can see why this site is considered particulary valuable, and, like a lot of rock art, the experience of getting there and back, only enhahnces the geographic, geological and human history in the canyon country of Utah. You can’t help but imagine tribes living in these places, probably when there was more water, but wondering how nomadic these lost tribes were in this area and where did they eventually end up, leaving behind the art carved in, or painted on rock.
Called “Head of Sinbad” signifying its geography, in the San Raefel Swell. Head of Sinbad or, Locomotive Point, along with the Ghost Panel are probably the most powerful and well-preserved and singular of existent rock art, that i came across, close to those badlands, i was constantly visiting.
This shot was taken at 3:00 pm and the shot above was takne at 3:00 am. The sun and the moon remain as the two of the most fundamental symbols from the life of tribal culture in America, and, that’s some of the reason for shooting with the moon as the prime illuminator.