Petroglyphs

Near Teapot Dome

Earlier this summer I had the privilege to hike up to one of the caves behind Teapot Dome. Really just a small hike, much like climbing up to the famous "Hollywood" sign in Los Angeles. Another thing these two places have in common is the "graffiti" which adorn the walls of these sites.

(Though the caves are not equipped with cameras to watch every visitor's move, I hope)

I had been made aware of some of the area's rock carvings (near Cat creek rd) a few years earlier, which reminded me of some of the earliest incarnations of Chinese symbols, from which they evolved to the current script symbols. (We had had a Chinese teacher in art school who introduced us to the history of Chinese calligraphy)

But to get back to the cave paintings near Rattlesnake station, which look very different from the rock carvings here and there (Or the graffiti on the back of the Hollywood sign); From my exposure to rock paintings here and there in my travels, and really I don't know much, it looks like an effort in tallying, perhaps record keeping and story telling (Charades or the image of a cow was somebody's opinion of their neighbor?)

At a place in northern Nevada several miles off of the "beaten path" there was an alcove of rocks which bore a similar pattern of decoration. However the theme at that place was more related to rites of passage or perhaps tallying births. I'm guessing.

Around here it seems much of the images depict a small array of local animals (and extra terrestrials I read…)

One aspect of the rock paintings that are indisputably noteworthy is, considering the amount of time and the elements these paints have been exposed to, how durable the mix of pigment and carrier have proven themselves to be. (ocher, soot and blood)

Unfortunately some of the graffiti found in more easily accessible caves expressing somebody's unfavorable opinion of another person in neon colors is displaying similar adhering qualities; I wonder what kind of mark we are leaving for future generations?

Here is a link to some people who have gathered a nice collection of information in regards to the Idaho/Snake river area Petroglyphs

http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~catshaman/idaho/umuti.htm