petroglyphs & rock art - gallery 3

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petroglyph and rock art paintings

The media used are:
Acrylic and Oil. Rendered on paper and canvas.

Newgrange - Ireland about newgrange Newgrange is one of the oldest buildings in Europe, dating to about 3200 BC. Newgrange is a passage mound, built so that at dawn on midwinter's day the interior is illuminated by the sunlight passing through an ingenious roof-box. Many of the kerbstones and interior walls are covered with carvings. Newgrange 1 Newgrange 2 Newgrange 3 Newgrange 4 Newgrange 5

Knowth - Ireland about knowth Knowth is a passage mound located 1.3 km north-west of Newgrange, on the river Boyne. Constructed around 3500 bc, this is also one of the oldest known buildings in Europe. It is aligned on a minor lunar standstill, with passages aligned with sunrise and sunset at the equinox. Many of the interior stones bear more abstract designs, perhaps impossible to decipher without further information about it's designers.   Kowth 1 Kowth 2 Kowth 3 Kowth 4 Kowth 5

Chaco Canyon - New Mexico

Chaco Canyon is located in the San Juan basin, in the north-west of New Mexico.

It was a spiritual and trading center for people ranging from what is now Colorado and Utah to Mexico.Several great houses were built around the canyon.

Monumental structures with hundreds of rooms on several stories, and dozens of kivas - oriented to solar, lunar, and cardinal directions.

Chaco 1	Chaco 2	Chaco 3	Chaco 4	Chaco 5

El Morro - New Mexico

El Morro National Monument is located about 15 miles west of the continental divide.

The mesa protect a pool of water, providing relief to travelers for centuries. There is an 875-room Anasazi pueblo ruin at the top; it is named Atsinna by the nearby Zuni people, meaning "where pictures are on the rock.

These early inhabitants probably created the prehistoric petroglyphs at the base of the cliff. Inscriptions were added by numerous travelers carving their names, dates and messages.

El Morro 1	El Morro 2	El Morro 3	El Morro 4	El Morro 5	El Morro 6

Shamans & Supernaturals - New Mexico

Shamans & Supernaturals. These characters have been given a separate category.

This is because of the distinctive appearance of their images, as well as recognition of the special position of the shaman in society.

The shaman is a person with the ability to travel outside conventional space and time to other planes of reality. They return with information to effect a cure or otherwise improve conditions.

Shaman 1	Shaman 2	Shaman 3	Shaman 4	Shaman 5

Petroglyph Park - New Mexico

Petroglyph National Monument lies on the West Mesa across the Rio Grande from Albuquerque.

It contains an estimated 15,000 to 17,000 petroglyphs, as well as numerous sacred places and shrines.

Most of the petroglyphs are Rio Grande style, dating from around 1350 to 1680. There are also examples of early Anasazi rock art from 700 to 900 A.D. Some petroglyphs in the Desert Abstract style dating from about 1000 B.C.

Painting 1	Painting 2	Painting 3	Painting 4	Painting 5	Painting 6

3 Rivers New Mexico

3 Rivers. Named for a nearby creek, the Three Rivers Petroglyph National Recreation Area overlooks the Tularosa Basin and Sierra Blanca. Along the ridge there are over 21,000 Jornado Style petroglyphs.

An agricultural village beside the creek was inhabited by Jornado Mogollon people for about 300 years. The ridge was a perfect lookout, and on it they left a remarkable record of their world.

There are recognisable creatures, if highly stylised, as well as diverse and creative anthropomorphic images and surreal scenes, such as two legs positioned as though the body had plunged down between boulders, or two disembodied hands held out - a greeting or a warning?

3 Rivers 1	3 Rivers 2	3 Rivers 3	3 Rivers 4	3 Rivers 5

Hueco Tanks - Texas

Hueco Tanks Historical Park is located about 30 miles east of El Paso.

There are over 3000 paintings on the stone (pictographs) left hidden in shelters, crevices and caves by the different people who lived here or visited the area.

The Desert Archaic people (6000 B.C. to A.D. 450) created abstract designs and hunting scenes including animals and humans with shaman-like characteristics.

Cross Shield	Hat Mask	Horned Mask	Rainbow Mask	Red Pair	Yellow Mask

about petroglyphs

While not pretending to understand the original intent of these Glyphs, I have painted some of the images, hoping to share some sense of this remarkable space/time to people who will probably never experience them in person.

All of the most ancient stories from the most ancient peoples we know about mention people who were before them.

We have no direct knowledge of these pre-historic peoples, except pictures and symbols carved or painted in stone, and what remains of some structures they erected.

Examples of this kind of record are found scattered all over the world, often in remote or extreme locations as well as in places built carefully by large numbers of people working on the project for generations.

While we cannot decipher much of this imagery, some is fairly clearly understood. There are calendars in several places, marking accurately the passage of time and the movements of the earth, moon and sun. There are groups of images that tell stories - some people today still use them to tell their children the stories of their ancestors. Some images are apparently warnings, indications of territory.

Even the images we don't understand communicate - they express ideas in some less defined way, but still convey information. If we choose to put aside all questions of translation, there is a power to the imagery - aesthetically they communicate regardless of the original meaning. Enjoy mp.

Links:

For further information on Newgrange & Knowth visit www.knowth.com
A very informative web site about the 4000 to 5000 year old Megalithic Passage Tombs of Meath -Ireland.

Chaco Canyon
http://www.nps.gov/chcu/index.htm
National Park Service, Chaco Culture National Historical Park