October: Petroglyph National Monument
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About 200,000 years ago a series of volcanic eruptions began to create this slope of eroded volcanic boulders. The first two fissure eruptions yielded extensive amounts of liquid lava which flowed naturally down-slope, east towards the Rio Grande valley. The following four eruptions produced thicker lava flows that eventually blocked the volcanic cones, called the Three Sisters. This 17 mile volcanic escarpment is known today as Albuquerque's West Mesa. The volcanic rock produced by the eruptions is basalt. Sometimes basalt has many little holes in it called vesicles. Vesicular basalt is a product of gases escaping from the lava before it cools and hardens. The exposed surface of basalt darkens in color due to precipitation, extreme temperatures, airborne particles, and action by micro-organisms which cause the metal and minerals to oxidize or rust. This thin layer of oxidation is called desert varnish.
Identification of some Petroglyphs is based on interpretations by today's Pueblo people. We cannot say for certain what all the images represent, nor is it appropriate for moden Pueblos to reveal the meaning of an image to others. Various Pueblos have different opinions on meanings and any single image may have complex or multiple meanings based on it's context. Most petroglyphs images in the dark are dated by relative dating techniques. The design elements are compared to dated pottery and prehistoric Puebloan murals. The murals had colorful painted images on the plaster walls of kivas (subterranean ceremonial rooms). Many of the mural images are not found before 1300, which suggest that new ideas were beginning to emerge in Pueblo culture.
Petroglyphs represent a valuable record of cultural expression and human occupation in the Rio Grande valley. They have deep spiritual significance to modern Pueblo groups as well as other indigenous people such as the Diné (Navajo) and the Apache. Similar images continue to have value in contemporary ceremonial life for many Southwestern tribes. The associated meanings of some petroglyphs are known by a few Southwestern tribal groups, while the direct meanings of other images have been lost of the centuries. This boulder contains a good example of various images made by the Ancestral Pueblo people 400 to 700 years ago. They used sandstone hammerstones and chisels to remove the thin exterior layer of desert varnish which exposed the lighter color of the basalt's interior. Some images are recognizable by us today; however, their original meanings were known only by the carver and by those who travelled and lived during that time period.
Identification of some Petroglyphs is based on interpretations by today's Pueblo people. We cannot say for certain what all the images represent, nor is it appropriate for moden Pueblos to reveal the meaning of an image to others. Various Pueblos have different opinions on meanings and any single image may have complex or multiple meanings based on it's context. Most petroglyphs images in the dark are dated by relative dating techniques. The design elements are compared to dated pottery and prehistoric Puebloan murals. The murals had colorful painted images on the plaster walls of kivas (subterranean ceremonial rooms). Many of the mural images are not found before 1300, which suggest that new ideas were beginning to emerge in Pueblo culture.
Identification of some Petroglyphs is based on interpretations by today's Pueblo people. We cannot say for certain what all the images represent, nor is it appropriate for moden Pueblos to reveal the meaning of an image to others. Various Pueblos have different opinions on meanings and any single image may have complex or multiple meanings based on it's context. Most petroglyphs images in the dark are dated by relative dating techniques. The design elements are compared to dated pottery and prehistoric Puebloan murals. The murals had colorful painted images on the plaster walls of kivas (subterranean ceremonial rooms). Many of the mural images are not found before 1300, which suggest that new ideas were beginning to emerge in Pueblo culture.
Identification of some Petroglyphs is based on interpretations by today's Pueblo people. We cannot say for certain what all the images represent, nor is it appropriate for moden Pueblos to reveal the meaning of an image to others. Various Pueblos have different opinions on meanings and any single image may have complex or multiple meanings based on it's context. Most petroglyphs images in the dark are dated by relative dating techniques. The design elements are compared to dated pottery and prehistoric Puebloan murals. The murals had colorful painted images on the plaster walls of kivas (subterranean ceremonial rooms). Many of the mural images are not found before 1300, which suggest that new ideas were beginning to emerge in Pueblo culture.
Identification of some Petroglyphs is based on interpretations by today's Pueblo people. We cannot say for certain what all the images represent, nor is it appropriate for moden Pueblos to reveal the meaning of an image to others. Various Pueblos have different opinions on meanings and any single image may have complex or multiple meanings based on it's context. Most petroglyphs images in the dark are dated by relative dating techniques. The design elements are compared to dated pottery and prehistoric Puebloan murals. The murals had colorful painted images on the plaster walls of kivas (subterranean ceremonial rooms). Many of the mural images are not found before 1300, which suggest that new ideas were beginning to emerge in Pueblo culture.
Identification of some Petroglyphs is based on interpretations by today's Pueblo people. We cannot say for certain what all the images represent, nor is it appropriate for moden Pueblos to reveal the meaning of an image to others. Various Pueblos have different opinions on meanings and any single image may have complex or multiple meanings based on it's context. Most petroglyphs images in the dark are dated by relative dating techniques. The design elements are compared to dated pottery and prehistoric Puebloan murals. The murals had colorful painted images on the plaster walls of kivas (subterranean ceremonial rooms). Many of the mural images are not found before 1300, which suggest that new ideas were beginning to emerge in Pueblo culture.