The sandstone cliffs of Sego Canyon are a spectacular outdoor art gallery of petroglyphs painted and carved by Native American peoples over a period of around 8,000 years. They are characterized by more than 80 imposing and haunting life-sized figures with hollowed eyes or missing eyes and the frequent absence of arms and legs.
Evidence of human habitation in Sego Canyon dates back to the Archaic Period (6,000 – 100 BC). But subsequent Anasazi, Fremont, and Ute tribes also left their mark upon the area, painting and chipping their religious visions, clan symbols, and records of events into the cliff walls.
The rock art of Sego Canyon can be characterized according to a number of distinctive styles, and time periods. The oldest art belongs to the Archaic period and dates to between 6,000 BC and 2,000 BC. Some of the most spectacular examples of rock art in the Southwest are attributed to Archaic people.
Within the Archaic period and beginning around 4,000 years ago, we see the Barrier Canyon Style rock art, a distinctive style of art that appears mostly in Utah, with the largest concentration of sites in and around the San Rafael Swell and Canyonlands National Park, but the full range extends into much of the state and western Colorado. Barrier Canyon Style rock art panels are mostly pictographs (painted) but there are also several petroglyphs (pecked) in the style.
Barrier Canyon-style rock art is characterized by large human-like (anthropomorphic) forms, some as tall as nine feet. The identifying features are vacant-looking or missing eyes, the frequent absence of arms and legs, and the presence of vertical body markings. They are sometimes seen with antennae, earrings, and snakes in their hands. The ghost-like images are some of the most unusual forms of rock art seen in the area. One of the most famous images, known as the Barrier Canyon Holy Man, appears to depict some type of spirit figure, which is larger and more important than the figures that surround him.
Beginning around 600 AD and lasting until 1250 AD, the Fremont culture thrived in the region and added their own distinctive style to the rock faces. They were a pre-Columbian archaeological culture that received its name from the Fremont River in Utah where the first sites were discovered. The Fremont culture was adjacent to, roughly contemporaneous with, but distinctly different from the Anasazi culture. They were part-time farmers who lived in scattered semi-sedentary farmsteads and small villages, never entirely giving up traditional hunting and gathering for more risky full-time farming. They made pottery, built houses and food storage facilities, and raised corn. Their petroglyphs also depicted unusual figures and were characterized by sharp edges, square or rectangular heads, and triangular bodies.
Beginning 1300 AD and lasting until 1880 AD, the Ute people inhabited the region of Sego Canyon and carved their own style on the cliff faces. Prior to the arrival of Mexican settlers, the Utes occupied significant portions of what are today eastern Utah, western Colorado, and parts of New Mexico and Wyoming. The Utes were never a unified group within historic times; instead, they consisted of numerous nomadic bands that maintained close associations with other neighboring groups. The historic Ute rock art is identified and dated by the horse and rider figures. Horses were introduced to North America by the Spanish in the sixteenth century. Other figures, or elements, painted in red and white on the panel include a white bison, a human figure with leggings, several large human figures, and large circles believed to be shields. The Ute people lived freely throughout western Colorado and eastern Utah until about 1880 when they were forced onto reservations.
This was a fantastic adventure to a very accessible place in Central/Eastern Utah off the I-70 heading towards Denver, Colorado. (We stayed in Moab and did another hike to Dead Horse Point which was another awesome adventure as well!)
Unfortunately, these historical sites have been vandalized over the years which is extremely disturbing. I would suggest visiting these treasures before any further destruction occurs. You could also travel a mile up the road deeper into the canyon to find the ghost town of Sego (aptly named for its location) a settlement in the 1880s that supplied coal to the town of Thompson Springs for the railroad that traveled through the area. A rich history can be found online if you’re interested. Sego, Utah (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sego,_Utah)
Maps: Sego Canyon Rock Art (https://www.alltrails.com/explore/tra...)
00:00 Introduction
01:19 Ute Petroglyphs 1300 A.D.
02:03 Fremont Culture Petroglyphs 600-1250 A.D.
02:35 Barrier Canyon style pictographs 6000-100 B.C.
03:49 Vandalism on the walls!
Информация по комментариям в разработке