investigating the mysteries of native american rock art

National Art Education Association

Investigating the Mysteries of Native American Rock ArtAuthor(s): Paula EubanksSource: Art Education, Vol. 60, No. 6 (Nov., 2007), pp. 25-32Published by: National Art Education AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27696249 .

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Instructional Resources

Detail from Spears at Los Ag?ales. Near Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Photograph by Grant Luckhardt.

Investigating

the Mysteries

of

Native American

Rock Art

BY PAULA EUBANKS

Recommended for grades 4-8

A mystery is anything that is kept secret, remains unexplained, or is unknown. Mysteries are anything that presents features or qualities so obscure as to arouse curiosity or speculation.

A mystery can also be a secret rite or ritual such as those depicted in the ancient Roman wall murals at the Villa of the Mysteries. Both

approaches to the meaning of this word are important when inves

tigating rock art. Almost nothing in archeology around the world has been the subject of so much speculation or such wild theories as

the first images created by prehistoric peoples. Our lives today are so different from the lives of the people who made ancient rock art that it is hard to even imagine the contexts in which these works were made or the purposes of them. Some seem to have been just doodlings with no apparent meaning or purpose. Some rock art probably had prac tical purposes such as to mark territory, keep records, record events, or mark time as part of a solar calendar. Other rock art images, however, were likely made for ceremonial, religious, or magical

purposes and probably involved the participation of a shaman, or ancient priest (Barnes, 1982). Since there are no written records, just the rock art and the mysteries surrounding it remain.

NOVEMBER 2007 / ART EDUCATION 25



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Perfect Panel. Utah. 3,000-1,000 BCE.

Photograph by Paula Eubanks.

The oldest images made by our species, painted on and pecked into rock, are found all over the world. Almost anywhere exposed rock can be found,

people made marks on it. The oldest rock art was made in Africa and Europe and is 8,000-14,000 years old (Coulson & Campbell, 2001). Rock art in

North America is comparatively newer, only 3,000-5,000 years old. The Four

Corners region, where Utah, New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado meet, is

especially rich in rock art. Only archeological evidence of the Anasazi and

Fremont cultures who lived in this area remains. Though no written records

exist about the way of life of these people, it is possible to discern clues to

the mysterious meanings and uses of rock art by examining possibly related

26 ART EDUCATION / NOVEMBER 2007



cultural practices of the Native Americans who

live in the Four Corners region today.

Solving mysteries is always an attractive proposi tion to students, but great care must be taken not

to infer too much when speculating on the context

in which this art was made. The principle of

Ockhams Razor, that the simplest explanation is

probably the best, is a good rule to follow (Barnes,

1982). Also it is important not to assume that any one explanation is correct until you have proof.


The study of rock art presents opportunities to use instructional strate

gies that encourage higher-level thinking (Marzano, Pickering, 8c Pollock,

2001). Through engaging in the discussions, research, hypothesizing, and art activities presented in this Instructional Resource, the following

learning objectives will be achieved:

Students will cooperate to explore and record information about the

geography, climate, geology of the Four Corners Region, and the

contemporary culture of its native peoples.

Students will generate hypotheses about the purposes of rock art and

the lives of the people who made it.

Students will compare rock art and contemporary images that are

part of our visual culture, as well as the differences in the materials

used to produce them.

Students will create images on ceramic tiles, based upon impulses similar to those that might have motivated rock artists.

Students will cooperate to create a mural depicting milestones in their

lives and cultures, with paint made from natural pigments.

About the Artwork

Perfect Panel Utah. 3,000 BCE to 1,000 BCE

The Anasazi pictographs on Perfect Panel are painted with natural

pigments on the wall of an alcove high within a canyon, which is reached

only by the most persistent climbers. Pictographs are paintings on light colored rock surfaces made with such natural pigments as blood, colored

clays, and plant juices. They are often found, like the one in the photo

graph shown here, on inward sloping rock walls where the images have

some protection from weathering. Dating can be accomplished through chemical analysis, which requires testing bits of paint, but because the

process involves destroying part of the painting, researchers often prefer to

date pictographs using stylistic characteristics.

The Panel's subject matter includes animals, snakes, and human figures called anthropomorphs that are 8 feet high. It is no mistake that the figures have six fingers on their hands. That was a common trait among the

Anasazi. The snake designs used on the clothing are believed to symbolize

power, masculinity, and fertility. The Anasazi believed snakes were special animals because they emerged magically from the earth. The modern Hopi

Indians, who may be descendants of the Anasazi, dance with rattlesnakes

in their teeth during some ceremonial dances, leading to the assumption that the Anasazi might also have used snakes in ceremonies.

Discussion Ask students the following questions to guide their initial hypothesizing.

Who might be the people depicted? Are they special among their

people or might they have served a special role? How so?

What does this especially remote location tell us about the possible

purpose of these paintings? Who might have come to see these works

and why? What kinds of activities might have occurred in this alcove?

What are some hard-to-reach places in our time? What special

meanings are attached to those places? Who goes to hard-to-reach

places in our culture and why?




Spears at Los Ag?ales. Near Santa Fe, New Mexico. 1100-1400 CE. Photograph by Grant Luckhardt.

Activity Using such resources as those listed at the end of this

Instructional Resource, have students work in groups to

research the similarities and differences between art mate

rials that are natural, like the Anasazi used, and those that

are man-made and used today. As a part of their research

have students explore their own environment to develop a

palette of natural pigments from such sources as earth, soot,

plants, and animals. Have them compare their palettes with

commercially available paints.


To apply what they have learned, have the groups brainstorm

about important rites of passage in their own lives and how

these might be depicted. Using large paper, students can

create a mural depicting important milestones in the lives

of people of their age and cultures. They should create paint from pigments that the students found in their environment

by mixing the natural pigments with glue, as a binder, and

water. Either as a motivational activity or as closure to their

artmaking, read with the students "Motel of the Mysteries"

(Macaulay, 1993), which is about young people in the future

discovering a motel and speculating about the purpose of

its contents. Conclude by asking students to imagine which

aspects of their murals might be mysteries to people in 3,000

years.




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Guardian Figure with background. McConkie Ranch, near Vernal, Utah. 500-800 CE. Photograph by Grant Luckhardt.

About the Artwork

Spears at Los Ag?ales Near Santa Fe, New Mexico. 1100-1400 CE

These huge 7- to 9-ft tall spears are petroglyphs, images pecked, cut,

scraped, or ground out of the rock. Ancient artists used sharp stones

to peck into the desert varnish, a dark coating on the surface of rock

caused by weathering. This persistent tapping into the stone wall

resulted in a series of dots, revealing the lighter color beneath the

desert varnish and thereby creating permanent images. Such images are found hidden deep within caves, perched high in canyon alcoves, or on rocks easily reached by anyone. As time passes, a patina, a

mineral coating, forms over the images. Analyzing the amount of

patina on the rock and the stylistic characteristics of the images is

how anthropologists date petroglyphs.

The Spears at Los Ag?ales were found in a blind canyon in New

Mexico and probably date to 1100-1400 CE. Blind canyons are

the blind alleys or cul-de-sacs of the ancient world used to entrap animals. This one has steep 30-ft vertical walls that only a Bighorn

sheep could likely climb. Hunters probably drove game into the

canyon in hopes of trapping them in a space where the hunters'

spears and arrows could be concentrated, thereby increasing the

chances of a successful hunt. The hourglass-like shapes appearing in the middle of the spears represent banner stones, weights that

balanced the spears making them accurate, deadly weapons. Other

images at this site show hunters, hunting dogs, and game flushers, the people who forced the animals into the canyon.




Discussion Ancient people might have ensured a successful hunt by performing a mysterious and magical ceremony. Ask students to speculate about

what such a ceremony might have been like.

Who would have participated in the ceremony? What roles

might people have played in the ceremony? Were animals

present? What kind? At what time of day might the ceremony have occurred? Would there have been music or other sounds?

What could have been used to produce those sounds?

What kinds of ceremonies are performed today in support of

successful endeavors?

In our contemporary culture, how and where do we picture

things that we want and need? How do we signal that food can

be found nearby? What symbols do we use in our visual culture

related to securing food and clothing?

Activity Have students individually or in groups research the geography,

geology, climate, and biology (plants and animals) in our western

canyon country. Also, have them find out what has been discovered

at Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon regarding how the Anasazi and

Fremont cultures lived.

From their research, students should speculate about the way of life

of the people who made this rock art?what they ate, what sheltered

them from the weather, how they spent their time? To aid students

in organizing their research and forming hypotheses regarding the Native American cultures, have them create illustrated charts

comparing ancient life and culture to their own. Categories on the

charts could include food, shelter, transportation, and clothing. The

wants and needs of ancient people might have been different from

today, but the impulse to picture what we want still exists.

What does it take in our culture

to be considered an artist? How and

why is the status and role of artists

different in contemporary culture

from that of the rock artists?


About the Artwork

Guardian Figure McConkie Ranch, near Vernal, Utah. 500-800 CE

The Guardian Figure is especially mysterious. The image is 8 feet high and located in a canyon on a rock wall about 12 to 16 feet from the

ground. The guardian has a commanding view of the valley below.

The breastplate, sash, and the two feathers coming out of the figure s

hair indicate that it might represent a shaman or a dance leader from

the Fremont culture, northern neighbors of the Anasazi.

Discussion Ask students to speculate about the purpose of the Guardian Figure.

What role might this figure serve? Was it an announcement, a

warning, a memorial, an advertisement? The image is referred

to as a guardian figure, so what might this figure be guarding? What are some visual images in our society that serve similar

purposes to that of the guardian?

Why was it placed so high above the ground? How did the

artist get up there? What status and role might the makers of this

art have held in their culture? What skills did they need? How

might they have been trained?

What does it take in our culture to be considered an artist?

How and why is the status and role of artists different in

contemporary culture from that of the rock artists?

As an alternative or follow up to discussion, students could write an

essay either hypothesizing on the meaning and role of the Guardian

Figure or identifying similar types of images from contemporary cultures and comparing their purpose and use with the rock art

image.

About the Artwork

Abstract Symbol at Three Rivers New Mexico. 900-1400 CE

Three Rivers Petrogylph Site is a hill rising up out of the flat plain of the northern Chihuahuan desert in northern New Mexico. The

site covers about 50 acres and includes more than 21,000 petro

glyphs, images of animals, birds, people, fish, insects, plants, and

some abstract images like the one reproduced in this Instructional

Resource (www.desertusa.com/mag98/mar/poi/du_ 3rivers.html). For the convenience of visitors who come to Three Rivers to see

one the largest concentrations of rock art in the desert southwest, a

walking path winds through the area among the rocks and images. Between 900 and 1400 CE the Jornada Mogoll?n people lived in the Three Rivers area and probably made the images found all over the

rocks. They were farmers who lived in adobe houses like the Anasazi

who were their neighbors and trade partners. As did the Anasazi, the

Mogoll?n people mysteriously disappeared. Perhaps they moved away or gave up their agricultural lifestyle to become nomadic hunter-gath erers. Unlike the alcove where Perfect Panel is located, this is a very accessible and public place.

Some rock art is abstract like the images on the rock at Three Rivers.

The design may be a simplified version of something in the artist's

world or it could have a more abstract meaning. The artist who made

it and the people who saw it may have understood it perfectly, but we

cant read it because we dont know that code.




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Abstract Symbol at Three Rivers. New Mexico. 900-1400 CE. Photograph by Paula Eubanks.

Discussion The great variety of subjects at Three Rivers make

questions about the purposes of this art especially

intriguing. Pose the following questions to students.

What might the easily accessible location of

these petroglyphs tell us about their meanings? What purposes could they have served?

What might the abstract petroglyphs represent?

Might they be symbols or simply decorative

designs? Why? What different purposes might abstraction have

served in ancient cultures than for artists today?

Activity Ask students to make a list of the abstract symbols they see every day. Once the lists

are finished, have the students consider two questions.

Which symbols will be well understood in 1400 or 3000 years, and which ones will probably become a mystery?

Why would some of the abstractions continue to communicate their meaning

clearly in the future, while others probably won t?

Have students make another list of important objects, events, practices, institutions, or rituals from their culture that they would depict in images that could survive

for hundreds or thousands of years and be understood. Next, individually students

should design three abstracted geometric symbols of things that are personally

important. Students should then work cooperatively to choose one abstraction

from each student s designs that most effectively communicates its meaning. In this

process students should also strive to come up with as wide a variety of symbols and/or meanings as possible. Each student will then carve the selected symbol into a

ceramic tile to be fired by the teacher. The final collection of tiles should be displayed somewhere in the school. It could be fun and informative to have other students in

the school try to guess what the tiles mean.

NOVEMBER 2007 /ART EDUCATION 31



Assessment Students should generate charts of the most significant hypotheses

they developed regarding Native American rock art, artists, and

culture. Each hypothesis should be supported with key informa

tion and findings that identify what aspects of the hypothesis are

supported by facts aH what remains a mystery. Images acquired

through the students internet research could be affixed to the charts.

For older grade levels or as an additional assessment, students

could write an essay comparing the role of art and artists in Native

American culture and in their own contemporary culture. Rubrics

could be used to evaluate either or both of these assessment strategies.

Paula Eubanks is recently retired from Georgia State University and can be reached [email protected].

RESOURCES Barnes, F. (1982). Canyon country prehistoric rock art. Salt Lake City, UT:

Wasatch Publishers.

Coulson, D. & Campbell, A. (2001). African rock art: paintings and engravings in stone. New York: Harry Abrams.

Marzano, R. Pickering, D. & Pollock, J. (2001). Classroom instruction that

works: Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement.

Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum

Development.

Macaulay, D. (1993). Motel of the mysteries. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.

Schaafsma, P. (1989). Indian rock art of the southwest. Albuquerque, NM:

University of New Mexico Press.

The World Heritage. (1990). Prehistoric rock art. Chicago: Children's Press.

WEBSITES ?iO?T ROCK ART

www.Rockart.org www.une.edu/au/arch/ROCKART/MMRockArt.html

www.Bradshawfoundation.com

www. africanro ckar t. org

www.jqjacobs.net/rock_art

www.raysweb.net

WEBSITES ABOUT AN?SAZ1 AND PRE1?I?PJT CULTURES www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/northamerian/anasazi

media.graniteschools.org/Curriculum/anasazi www.cdli.ca/CITE/anasazi.htm

www.staa.org/FREMONT

www.fourcorners.net/ccyc.People.html

www.nps.gov/care/petpull.htm

www.cpluha.nau.edu/People/fremont www.desertusa.com

www.deloit.edu

AUTHOR NOTE The author gratefully acknowledges the help of Dr. Grant Luckhardt and

Mr. Jim Duffield in getting to rock art sites in the Four Corners region and

in the preparation of this material.

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investigating the mysteries of native american rock art

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