Painted Rock Petroglyph Site, Arizona

This site protects a variety of cultural and natural resources including volcanoes, archeological sites and an estimated 20,000 carved images. Many of the images are recognizable as animals, people, brands and crosses; others are more complex. These images are inseparable from the cultural landscape, the spirits of the people who created, and whom appreciate them, but whose culture has since vanished.

I anticipated it would be a short visit, however, I spend most of 4 hours at the site. The petroglyphs are located on volcanic rocks deposited by ancient volcanic flows which rise above the desert floor. There are many petroglyph sites in New Mexico and nearly all volcanic flows have glyphs etched out of the rock.

There are two styles of glyphs; etched using a rock as a etching tool, or scraped using a rock. Motifs vary depending upon the ancient tribe that produced the artwork, however, most relate to the cosmos and local animals. Circles, squares, lizards, nets, faces, and bighorn sheep are all represented at this site.

If visiting the site, it must be remembered that this site is protected and collecting any material from the area is strictly enforced by a resident ranger on-site.