Rock Art

Good News for the San Rafael Swell
by Stephen Alvarez|March 5, 2019|Barrier Canyon Style, Emery County, petroglyph, pictograph, Rock Art, Utah
Buckhorn Wash Pictograph Panel on the San Rafael Swell Those of you who have been following the Ancient Art Archive's work are familiar with our efforts to document Barrier Canyon Style (BCS) artworks. BCS is one of North America's most enigmatic and evocative styles. It is known, primarily from the San Rafael Swell of Central Utah. In general conservation news has been bad in Utah for the past few years. Both Bears Ears and Grand Staircase/Escalante National Monuments were significantly reduced. However, last month a mammoth public lands bill passed both the House and Senate that will increase protections on many National Lands. Among many other things the bill adds 660,000 acres of wilderness designation to Emery County Utah, home of much of the San Rafael Swell. You can read more here. The Rochester Rock Art Panel in Emery County Utah
Pahranagat representational style
by Stephen Alvarez|January 29, 2019|age, Archaic, Great Basin, Mural of America, Native American, Nevada, North America, Pahranagat, petroglyph, Rock Art
Pahranagat anthropomorphic figures are unique to the Pahranagat Valley of Southern Nevada. There are two types of figures;
Grotte Pair-non-Pair, Aquitaine France
by Stephen Alvarez|October 1, 2018|age, Aurignacian, cave art, France, Paleolithic, petroglyph, Rock Art
The paleolithic cave Pair-non-Pair was found when a farmer went looking for a lost cow who had fallen in a hole, the cave he discovered
Chauvet Pont d'Arc Horses
Limited Edition Chauvet Portfolio to support the Ancient Art Archive
by Stephen Alvarez|September 2, 2017|36000 BP, cave art, Chauvet, Europe, France, Rock Art
I have selected 12 images from Chauvet Pont d'Arc Cave for a portfolio of prints to help support the Ancient Art Archive. Each image is limited to 12 prints each. Once they are sold there will be no more. The images are approximately 21" x 33" on 2 x 4-foot paper. Go here to see all the images and purchase. I'll be showing six of these prints in Oxford next month as part of a lecture at the Saïd Oxford Business School on September 13. The talk is free but registration is required. Go here for details. -Stephen Alvarez
Bears Ears Images
Bears Ears Images
by Stephen Alvarez|May 29, 2017|Bears Ears, petroglyph, Rock Art, San Juan County, Utah
Petroglyphs in Comb Wash Utah's Bears Ears National Monument is a national treasure. Besides the area's fantastic natural beauty the Monument contains over 100,000 archeological sites. Many of you generously supported a scouting trip to the Bears Ears this spring. The images are now online here. (more…)
Bear Ears
by Stephen Alvarez|March 20, 2017|Bears Ears, Fremont, petroglyph, pictograph, Rock Art, San Juan County, Utah
The Procession Panel, San Juan County Utah The Ancient Art Archive is in Utah all week scouting locations to record in the Bears Ears. For those that don't know, the Bears Ears is one of the United States newest National Monuments. Its 1.3 million acres represent some of the most inaccessible landscape in the lower 48 states. It is also a cultural treasure. There are over 100,000 archeological sites in the Monument and tens of thousands of pictographs and petroglyphs. It's a remarkable place. Thanks to everyone who has helped us get into the field this spring. Your support is vital.  
Dating the cave paintings of Spain
by Stephen Alvarez|March 11, 2017|36000 BP, cave art, Europe, pictograph, Rock Art, Spain
Alistair Pike discusses the work he has done with Dirk Hoffmann in dating the cave paintings of Northern Spain in this short video that I shot for National Geographic. The open question that Pike is trying to answer in his research is are all the cave paintings of Europe Human or are some of them Neanderthal? Its an interesting question. Neanderthals certainly could have produced some art, but there is not overwhelming evidence that they did. Refined dating techniques have pushed the age of the first paintings in Europe back. The oldest paintings are now known to be older than 40,000 years. But by the same token refinements in tracing migration by looking at the human genome indicate that homo sapiens sapiens first entered Europe 55,000 years ago. So the current oldest painting in El Castillo in Spain is well within the date range that modern humans occupied Europe. Proving that...
Bulls painted in Altamira Cave
Pointillism is 38,000 years old. We have invented nothing
by Stephen Alvarez|March 9, 2017|36000 BP, age, Altamira, Aurignacian, cave art, Gravettian, news, Rock Art, Spain
Pointillism is 38,000 years old. We have invented nothing.
Rainbow Man, Barrier Canyon Style Pictographs, Emery County Utah
by Stephen Alvarez|February 10, 2017|4000 BP, Barrier Canyon Style, Emery County, pictograph, Rock Art, Utah
A horned anthropomorphic petroglyph with rainbows enhanced with D-Stretch. Barrier Canyon Style Pictographs, Emery County Utah Within this faded group of Barrier Canyon Style pictograph is the Double Rainbow man. The figure is somewhat faded so I have run D-Stretch to bring it then recombined it with the original image to make the figure above. (more…)
High Gallery Barrier Canyon Style rock art panel, Wayne County Utah
by Stephen Alvarez|February 9, 2017|4000 BP, Barrier Canyon Style, petroglyph, pictograph, Rock Art, Utah, Wayne County
A detailed view of the High Gallery of Horseshoe Canyon, Wayne County Utah. High Gallery of Horseshoe Canyon, Wayne County, Utah Recorded August 2016 This is the first gallery in The Horseshoe (Barrier) Canyon section of Canyonlands National Park. It is on the East wall of the canyon far above the canyon floor. It has well-preserved anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figures in classic Barrier Canyon Style. Besides the pictographs there are also a number of petroglyphs faintly visible within the panel.  BCS style art is thought to be about 4,000 years BP. There is a longer discussion of the age of the art on the NPS Horseshoe canyon page (here). To see the panel in greater context of the canyon look at this image