Day Sixteen in Chaco Canyon

Daniel Gillis

10-26-2016                                   

            Hi everyone! Last night we attended a lecture on Chaco rock art at the visitor’s center here in Chaco Canyon. The lecturer was Jane Kolber, a longtime volunteer here at the park, and she discussed and showed slides of many of the petroglyphs here at Chaco Canyon. The most common element in the rock art here at Chaco Canyon is the spiral and it is thought that it may represent the beginning of life or the cycle of life. Hands are also very popular in the rock art here along with human and animal figures- there are even a few macaws (birds from southern Mexico and Central America).

            Today after our mid-morning cookie break we headed out on the trail behind Pueblo Bonito to try to locate some rock art. Luckily there is a trail dedicated to petroglyphs that runs along the north cliffs of the canyon. We were able to locate a number of rock art panels carved into the rocks. Most of these panels contained quite a few different images. There was everything from geometric designs, representations of people and animals, and some of mythical creatures as well.

            People created rock art here in a number of different ways. The most common method of creating the art is through pecking which is striking the surface of the wall repeatedly with a rock to peck away a figure. There are also examples of excising which is cutting grooves into the surface with a very sharp stone, and abrading which is rubbing the surface with a flat stone to wear away an image.

            The rock art can be found almost everywhere in Chaco Canyon. Art was produced high up on cliff faces; which were and still are hard to access, art can also be found at eye level on some rock walls, and inside of some pre-historic buildings. Unfortunately, we only had a short time to experience the rock art here at Chaco Canyon today but we will be keeping a look out for more art as we visit different sites her at Chaco Canyon.

            The rest of our day today was spent excavating the trading post site near Pueblo Bonito, doing archaeological site assessment surveys for the National Park Service, and examining the geology of the Chaco Wash near our excavation site. We are in the middle of our fourth week out here and things are going really great. We are learning more about Chaco Canyon and the people who once lived here and we are finding a lot of really interesting artifacts both from the days of the trading post and from the Chaco culture of a thousand years ago.

            If you ever get a chance to visit Chaco Canyon you will not be disappointed. There are miles of hiking trails, lots of camping spots, and plenty of ancient ruins to explore. Hope you can make it sometime!