The lower loop of the large, 450' rock figure.
Photograph courtesy of Jonathan Bailey.
Have
you ever wondered what, in our fascination with looking at rock art on the
cliff faces, we might be missing under our feet? Well, it appears that in some
places we might be missing quite a lot. An article by photographer Jonathan
Bailey, printed in the Fall, 2014, issue of the quarterly newsletter of the Colorado Archaeological Society, The Surveyor, (p. 23-24), discusses
and illustrates some geoglyphs or rock alignments that he has photographed in
the San Rafael Swell in Utah, an area notable for wonderful rock art.
Anthropomorphic rock alignment resembling
Barrier Canyon Style figures. Photograph
courtesy of Jonathan Bailey.
In his article in The Surveyor Jonathan Bailey described
the largest of these rock alignments: “This layer is
carpeted with hundreds of thousands of discarded chippings, the remnants of
prolific prehistoric tool makers huddling around one of the only reliable water
sources: a perennial spring that collects into an impression in stone, a
veritable storage tank that provided water for hundreds of people separated by
thousands of years.
At the sandstone's
apex, a colossal geoglyph commands recognition. The four hundred and fifty-foot
convex form slithers along its horizons, placing its head near a natural
sandstone pathway to the south-west. The 'head' is composed of two large
bulbous knobs and a single line-like neck. Its form and shape are not
distinguishable even from the air and appears to represent an entoptic
phenomenon, relating to a visual experience within the eye or brain.
It is not the only
geoglyph within the San Rafael Swell. I have been researching these earth
structures for some time, photographically documenting accompanying artifacts,
correlating cultural ties, and identifying similarities in the space, context,
and structure. It is one of ten geoglyphs I have photographed within the San
Rafael Swell but incomparably larger than the others.”
An example of a "simple curvilinear form including
parallel lines, circles,
and half circles commonly found
in batches near Barrier Canyon Style
images."
Photograph courtesy of Jonathan Bailey.
Bailey
also stated that the rock alignments “are
located within a half mile of typical Barrier Canyon Style images containing
ghostly, elongated anthropomorphic figures with circular eye sockets and other
diagnostic elements” possibly suggesting a relationship between the
geoglyphs and the people who created the Barrier Canyon Style pictographs.
Another example of "simple curvilinear forms including
parallel lines, circles, and half circles commonly found
in batches near Barrier Canyon Style images."
Photograph courtesy of Jonathan Bailey.
As
Bailey put it “These geoglyphs are isolates in a profusion of Barrier
Canyon Style artworks or maybe they are just the surviving archetypes of a
traditional medium.” I urge you to check out Jonathan’s photography at his
website listed below, and also take a look at The Surveyor, quarterly newsletter of the Colorado Archaeological
Society, edited by Robert Dundas.
REFERENCES:
Bailey, Jonathan
2014 The Surveyor, Fall issue, Vol. 12, number 4, p. 23-24, edited by Robert Dundas.
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