Rock Art

Cueva de las Manos
Patagonia Cave Art: A Pictograph Seen Across 3000 Years
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A new paper in Science Advances suggests that a single pictograph motif persists across 130 human generations at a site in Argentina
Great Gallery of Horseshoe Canyon, Utah USA
Barrier Canyon Style Rock Art
The Barrier Canyon Style (BCS) represents an intriguing facet of prehistoric rock art, primarily concentrated in Utah, notably flourishing within the San Rafael Swell and Canyonlands National Park regions
Petroglyphs in Gold Butte National Monument
Nevada man sentenced to 6 months in prison for damaging rock art
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A Nevada man will spend 6 month in jail for defacing rock art in Nevada
Growing evidence of Neanderthal “Art”
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Claims that other species besides Homo Sapiens made art or used "symbolic behavior" have been met with skepticism. But evidence that Neanderthals did produce symbols keeps growing. In a paper published this week in the Journal PLOS One,
Chauvet Pont d’Arc the discovery of 36,000-year-old art
Upper Paleolithic Proto Writing
We know that ancient artists were exacting observers of the natural world. But it is mind bending that they may have had a written time keeping system 20,000 years ago.
A Dark Pathway
A Dark Pathway book review
Founding board member emeritus Dr Jan Simek has a new book about cave art in the Southeastern United States. Dr David Whitley gives us a detailed review. A Dark Pathway: Precontact Native American Mud Glyphs from 1st Unnamed Cave, Tennessee, by Jan F. Simek. 2022. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press. xviii+195 pp., 85 b&w and 19 color figures, 14 tables, bibliography, index. ISBN 9781621907176, hardcover. By David S. Whitley Rock Art Research Institute University of the Witwatersrand “Mud glyph” and “1st Unnamed Cave” are not particularly inspiring terms that, at first glance, might promote reading this book. Yet these very earthy, workman-like words in the sub-title exactly belie the careful, compelling and in fact exciting study detailed in this volume. Anyone interested in the Native American symbolic and spiritual world will benefit from and enjoy this book; it should be required reading for those concerned with the indigenous southeastern US...
Rock Eagle Effigy Mound
Updates to our public rock art sites
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Looking for a weekend rock art get away? We've made some updates to our public rock art sites interactive map. All the sites on the list are actively managed for public visitation. Changes include a new site Rock Hawk, direction maps to Rock Eagle and Serpent Mound, better access to embedded VR models in Chauvet, Mt Irish and The Great Gallery of Horseshoe Canyon.
Snake Tailed Cat Petroglyph
Persistence of Place
Some places become important to humans and remain so across thousands of years and multiple cultures.
San Juan County Petroglyphs
Southern Utah Petroglyph Boulders
We have loaded a VR model of petroglyph boulders in Utah optimized for the Oculus headset.
Maori cave painting
Cave Art Images from New Zealand
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New Zealand is one of the last major land masses to be explored and permanently settled by human beings. Max Wisshak has added his photographs of those explorers artwork to the Ancient Art Archvie.