Petroglyphs found near Las Vegas

[Mrdigz]

I was metal detecting an area near a wash and found some old lead bullets. And then this rock caught my eye so I picked it up pe

 

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[Tnmountains]

Nice petroglyph found at your home. Good save and maybe we can get back to figuring out what is left of the symbols. We do not need a lecture on the over reaching Federal arpa act which outlaws you picking up a 50 year old wheat penny,horse shoe or barb wire on Federal land we pay for.
An archeological protected site is much different than your front yard.

 

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[Treasure_Hunter]

Please end the arguing.

 

[rock]

There is a book for NA Indian signs maybe amazon.com will have it. I know somebody who has 1. Go and do a search to see if they have 1 for sale. They sell books cheap usually. Hope you find out what it means and if you do give us a update Id like to know. I think it is a incredible find.

 

[Charl]

Years ago, Native American LeVan Martineau claimed to have discovered that petroglyphs were in fact a form of picture writing based on sign language. A controversial theory, but still popular and utilized by some.....

Petroglyphs: Art or Writing?

http://www.amazon.com/Rocks-Begin-S...0549&sr=1-1&keywords=the+rocks+begin+to+speak

 

[southfork]

Under higher magnification I'm not seeing a petroglyph just an interesting rock .

 

[1320]

Under higher magnification I'm not seeing a petroglyph just an interesting rock .

I didn't want to be the first to say it but I will be the first to publicly agree with your assessment!

 

[InAustralia.Jones]

HI,

Third photo, there seems to be visible writing or etching on the flat section - any ideas?

After you picked up the stone did you run your detector over the ground again.

 

[Charl]

It might be a form of Great Basin rock art called Great Basin abstract, and described as:

"Curvilinear and rectilinear motif types are the two most common abstract styles and are widely distributed throughout the Great Basin culture area. The curvilinear style is characterized by its emphasis on curved lines and forms, such as circular motifs (circles, concentric circles, connected circles, dots, “starbursts,” etc.), wavy lines, and meanders. The rectilinear style is composed of straight lines, angular designs, and perpendicular forms, such as grids, rectangles, squares, triangles, lines, cross-hatching, rakes, etc. Both, rectilinear and curvilinear styles co-occur at Nevada rock art sites and were made as petroglyphs (pecked, engraved, abraded, and scratched) and as pictographs. These two styles always accompany other rock art styles in the region and appear to have been made from 10,000 BP until contact with Euroamericans). These styles are strongly associated with Archaic hunter-forager cultures in the Desert West but are also present in styles associated with Fremont and Puebloan groups, though not as visually prominent to external observers."

From this link:

Styles and themes

Also described here, where it is noted that it is commonly found as portable petroglyphs, on small rocks, in other words.
A site in Utah, but applies to entire Great Basin. I think you might have incised Great Basin abstract, curvilinear. Concentric circles are common....


http://www.utahrockart.org/pubs/pro...les_of_the_Great_Salt_Lake_Utah_Lake_Area.pdf

 

[Charl]

Interesting article here on portable incised petroglyphs from southern Nevada. Nothing similar, but just the fact they are commonly found on portable size rocks:

http://www.nvarch.org/NV Archaeologist/NV_Archaeologist_Vol02(1)_1974-Modified.pdf

And contact info here for Nevada folks who can tell you for certain if it is a petroglyph, regardless of where found in Nevada.

Welcome

 

[Mrdigz]

Thanks Charl,

I've tried many times to find a similar carving like the one shown on my stone. It wasn't until I typed in "Great Basin Culture curvilinear style" that I was shown new examples. So I'm going to guess its a portable petroglyph and not from a larger piece. Now I can try and figure out what it's trying to say!
Thank you for the comment and your knowledge on the subject!

 

[Mrdigz]

InAustralia.Jones- yes I detected a lot of the area. Nothing to brag about. Old lead bullets, some garbage ect... Which is good because if I was on a good spot I probably wouldn't have picked this rock up!

 

[gollum]

Under higher magnification I'm not seeing a petroglyph just an interesting rock .

Southfork and 1320,

It is indeed a petroglyph. It looks very similar to Indian Scratch Petroglyphs:

http://www.pcas.org/documents/Clewlow.pdf

Many of them are almost unrecognizable as man made. They are fairly common in the SouthEastern California Deserts. Nobody is absolutely certain what they mean. Some people think they show tribal boundaries, some people think they show impossible to see Indian Trails. I personally believe the "trails" idea.

Before natives marked trails, they had to know what to mark. When Natives first moved into an area (lets say SoCal Desert), there were no trails. They watched the birds fly into the rocks. If they saw a lot of birds flying into the same area of rocks, it usually means there are water tanks nearby. Since water is so scarce in our deserts (not really, but for the sake of argument), there would be a lot of fierce competition for what limited resources there were. So, markers for the trail to the "water tanks" would have to be very inconspicuous. Small marks on small rocks. Only members of THAT tribe would know how to read them. Just one example of almost indistinguishable rock markings that have a lot of meaning.

Mike

 

[Mrdigz]

Gollum-
Definitely makes sense. That's probably the best reason for where it was and also why it has such discreet markings.

 

[gollum]

Gollum-
Definitely makes sense. That's probably the best reason for where it was and also why it has such discreet markings.

That was why in my old post, I made the joke about you being the cause of a bunch of poor lost Indians in Nevada. HAHAHA

Mike

 

[southfork]

Southfork and 1320,

It is indeed a petroglyph. It looks very similar to Indian Scratch Petroglyphs:

http://www.pcas.org/documents/Clewlow.pdf

Many of them are almost unrecognizable as man made. They are fairly common in the SouthEastern California Deserts. Nobody is absolutely certain what they mean. Some people think they show tribal boundaries, some people think they show impossible to see Indian Trails. I personally believe the "trails" idea.

Before natives marked trails, they had to know what to mark. When Natives first moved into an area (lets say SoCal Desert), there were no trails. They watched the birds fly into the rocks. If they saw a lot of birds flying into the same area of rocks, it usually means there are water tanks nearby. Since water is so scarce in our deserts (not really, but for the sake of argument), there would be a lot of fierce competition for what limited resources there were. So, markers for the trail to the "water tanks" would have to be very inconspicuous. Small marks on small rocks. Only members of THAT tribe would know how to read them. Just one example of almost indistinguishable rock markings that have a lot of meaning.

Mike

I still don't see it but maybe if I had it in hand I would change my mind . It's hard to tell a lot from a photo and I have seen a lot of rock art all over the western states up close and personal and was giving my view . I'm just an avid collector not an Expert .

 

[Charl]

I still don't see it but maybe if I had it in hand I would change my mind . It's hard to tell a lot from a photo and I have seen a lot of rock art all over the western states up close and personal and was giving my view . I'm just an avid collector not an Expert .

I'm certainly no expert either. I have recorded petroglyph sites in the Northeast, and had that info published in books pertaining to petroglyphs in the Eastern Woodlands, because I know the leading authority on Eastern Woodland rock art. He is a good friend of mine. But, you don't have to be an expert to record sites, and like yourself, I have visited sites out West, specifically in Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. In the Petrified Forest of Az., for example, virtually every boulder on the side of the east-west road through the park has petroglyphs on them. The only possibility that I can see are the linear and curvilinear elements in the first photo of this thread. Concentric semi circles I have seen before, and it's possible those are incised in that rock by man. I think they likely are, but see no elements in any of the other photos provided here.

 

[gollum]

Southfork and Chart,

I am not, and have never claimed to be an expert on rock art. Just a good observer and researcher. This is what I have found out from years of researching as many forms of rock art as I have found over the last twenty or so years;

1. Some Rock Art is just from people like kids today marking rocks with spray paint graffiti. "Face Like a Pig was here" or "Face Like a Pig Loves Eagle Feather" HAHAHA

2. Some Rock Art was made to depict important historical happenings (both historical or the tribe and generally historical like exploding stars etc)

3. Some Rock Art was made for religious purposes (for instance a ladder petroglyph is typically near the top of a mountain peak or high canyon wall, and it represents the path to heaven for a person buried nearby)

4. Some Rock Art was made to show trails to different places (water, shelter, food caches, enemy tribes, trials, etc)

5. Some Rock Art was made by Spaniards to show things, and they hid them inside actual native rock art

Most rock art is easily identifiable as man made. Some is not. Just like later maps by Europeans; many were just general maps. Easy to read. Some rock art is like Treasure Maps; hard to understand due to heavy encoding.

Mike