A WONDERFUL EXAMPLE OF ROCK ART RESTORATION, CONSERVATION, AND RENEWAL - SANDIA CAVE, NEW MEXICO:

Entrance to Sandia Cave (the

spiral staircase just left of center).

Photograph Peter Faris, 1990.

Sandia Cave (previously known as Sandia Man Cave) in New Mexico is an iconic site in the study of prehistory of North America. Frank Cummings Hibben conducted excavations in the cave from 1936 - 1941, searching for evidence of pre-Folsom occupation. "Because his excavations were conducted prior to acceptance of radiocarbon dating in the 1950s, his interpretation was based upon the stratigraphy of the cave. Hibben purported that below a Folsom Age stratigraphic layer that contained several fluted projectile points was a layer where the Pleistocene fauna were found in association with a distinct type of projectile points." (Arazi-Coambs and Rich 2016:12)

Sandia type projectile points.

Photograph Public Domain.

This distinct type of projectile point resembled European Solutrean projectile points dating from 22,000 - 17,000 BP, having a single shoulder on one side. The lack of hard dates, however, and the state of the deposits in Sandia Cave, have made Hibben's claims somewhat controversial and the archaeological world has still not reached any solid consensus on them, although the site itself is important because of its place in history, and its record of use from the Paleoindian period to the present. (Arazi-Coambs and Rich 2016:11)

Sandia Cave, New Mexico.

Photograph Peter Faris, 1990.

I made a visit to the cave in October, 1990, to see the site where these important, although somewhat controversial, discoveries were made. Hiking up the trail and climbing the metal stairway, I was horrified to find that the cave had been used as a toilet facility for some time, supposedly by nearby campers, and proved an absolutely disgusting place to be. Watching my step, and snapping a few quick photographs, I beat a hasty retreat without a detailed examination of the cave. I wrote this off as pretty much a total loss and let it go at that.

First chamber, pre-restoration,

From Arraz-Coambs and Rich, 2016,

Sandia Cave Restoration: National

Historic Landmark, p. 14.

I have now recently learned, however, that the situation at Sandia Cave has changed. An article by Sandra Arazi-Combs and Carrin Rich in the April 2016 issue of the National Speleological Society News outlines a comprehensive restoration project for Sandia Cave. "In fall 2013 the Cibola National Forest and National Grasslands paired with Sandia Grotto to address the possibility of restoring Sandia Cave to a more natural-looking state." (Arazi-Coambs and Rich 2016:12)

A coalition of interested parties from the National Park Service, New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, affiliated Pueblo tribal representatives, and representatives of the National Speleological Society (NSS), and the NSS Southwestern Region met, and over the course of two years developed a proposal for mitigation and restoration of Sandia Cave.

First chamber, post-restoration.

From Arraz-Coambs and Rich,

2016, Sandia Cave Restoration:

National Historic Landmark, p. 14.

"In January 2015 UNM Public Archaeology Graduate student Katherine Shaum collaborated with Sandia Grotto and the USFS to submit a grant to New Mexico Historic Preservation Division to fund the restoration." (Arazi-Coambs and Rich 2016:12)

Enhanced handprint pictograph,

Sandia Cave, From Arraz-Coambs

and Rich, 2016, Sandia Cave

Restoration: National Historic

Landmark, p. 13.

Red ochre lines on cave wall, Sandia

Cave. From Arraz-Coambs and Rich,

2016, Sandia Cave Restoration:

National Historic Landmark, p. 12.

Under the hands-on supervision of Stratum Unlimited LLC, the restoration work was conducted by volunteers from the involved parties and the general public, and their wonderful results can be seen from the accompanying photos. Additionally, two ochre markings, one of which is a handprint, are illustrated which were discovered in the cave. All-in-all this seems like complete success and I congratulate all parties involved. Perhaps I will someday try to visit it again.

REFERENCES:

Arazi-Coambs, Sandra (USFS), and Carrin Rich (Sandia Grotto),

2016   Sandia Cave Restoration: National Historic Landmark, p. 11-14, National Speleological Society News, National Speleological Society, Huntsville, AL.

HIGHEST ELEVATION ROCK ART REVISITED - NEPAL:

Fig. 4.1 and 4.2, p. 11,

Kak Nyingba, Nepal, Dr.

Perdita Pohle, 2003.

On June 18, 2016, I posted a column titled The Low-Down On Highest Altitude Rock Art Claims. In this I reported on an article titles Highest-Altitude Prehistoric Rock Art Revealed, written by Stephanie Pappas and published online by LiveScience. In her article Pappas outlined claims that a painted rock shelter named Abri Faravel in the southern French Alps has the highest elevation rock art discovered so far. The paintings of Abri Faravel were discovered in 2010 and are at an elevation of 2,133 meters (approximately 7,000 feet).

Fig. 5.1 and 5.2, p. 12,

Kak Nyingba, Nepal, Dr.

Perdita Pohle, 2003.

I then presented two pictograph sites in Colorado that I believe are from higher elevation than 7,000 feet, and I ended with the invitation for readers to inform me of sites that they know of that are at higher elevations. Then, on 19 June, 2016, Peter Jessen forwarded an article to me about a petroglyph site in Nepal at an elevation of about 9,000 feet. The site, Kak Nyingba, consists of petroglyphs carved onto the "flat sandstone banks abutting the Kali Gandaki river." (Pohle 2003:2)

Fig. 6.1 and 6.2, p. 13,

Kak Nyingba, Nepal, Dr.

Perdita Pohle, 2003.

At the time of the writing 1,189 petroglyphs had been identified, not counting cupules that are also found there. (Pohle 2003:2) While no precise dates are given internet references date habitation in that area to a few thousand years.

Fig. 7.1 and 7.2, p. 14,

Kak Nyingba, Nepal, Dr.

Perdita Pohle, 2003.

So, now, thanks to Peter Jessen we have moved the bar up considerably, from 7,000+ feet elevation to approximately 9,000 feet elevation. Who can give us a higher rock art site? Do you know of one? If so, send it to me at rockartblogmail@yahoo.com.

NOTE:  For complete information on the Kak Nyingba petroglyph site refer to the original 2003 article "Petroglyphs and Abandoned Sites in Mustang, A Unique Source For Research in Cultural History and Historical Geography" by Dr. Perdita Pohle below.

REFERENCES:

Pappas, Stephanie,

2016, http://www.livescience.com/54889-highest-altitude-prehistoric-rock-art-revealed.html

Pohle, Perdita, Dr.,

2003      Petroglyphs and Abandoned Sites in Mustang, A Unique Source For Research in Cultural History and Historical Geography, p. 1-14, Ancient Nepal, No. 153, June 2003, Published by His Majesty's Government Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Department of Archaeology, Kathmandu, Nepal.

DISCOVERING MESA PRIETA - A ROCK ART S.T.E.M. CURRICULUM:

I recently received a mailing from the Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Project (MPPP), the Wells Petroglyph Preserve (WPP), Velarde, New Mexico. I was charmed by the stationery that was used which is decorated with drawings of petroglyphs from the WPP done by children in the program. 

Child's illustration, Mesa Prieta, 

NM. Picture courtesy of the Mesa

Prieta Petroglyph Project.

Mesa Prieta, Rio Arriba County, 

NM. Photograph Peter Faris, 

Sept. 4, 2011.

Even better, they printed it in color instead of opting for cheaper black and white. The thing is, many of these drawings by children are better than some of the drawings done by participants in rock art recording projects I have conducted.

Child's illustration, Mesa Prieta,

NM. Picture courtesy of the Mesa

Prieta Petroglyph Project.

Mesa Prieta, Rio Arriba County,

NM. Photograph Peter Faris,

Sept. 4, 2011.

The Discovering Mesa Prieta curriculum is used in 17 schools in the and they estimate that over 2,000 children have benefited from their program.

             

Child's illustration, Mesa Prieta,

NM. Picture courtesy of the Mesa

Prieta Petroglyph Project.

Mesa Prieta, Rio Arriba County,

NM. Photograph Peter Faris,

Sept. 4, 2011.

Trained teams have recorded over 55,000 petroglyphs so far and they now estimate that Mesa Prieta may contain 100,000 images from the Archaic, Ancestral Puebloan, and historic periods.

Child's illustration, Mesa Prieta,

NM. Picture courtesy of the Mesa

Prieta Petroglyph Project.

Child's illustration, Mesa Prieta,

NM. Picture courtesy of the Mesa

Prieta Petroglyph Project.

Child's illustration, Mesa Prieta,

NM. Picture courtesy of the Mesa

Prieta Petroglyph Project.

If you care to get involved supporting this good work they will be happy to accept your donations. The MPPP is a 501(C)3 organization so your contributions will be tax deductible.

Contact them at www.mesaprietapetroglyphs.org, or write Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Project, PO Box 407, Velarde, NM, 87582.

NEANDERTAL ARCHITECTURE:

 la-1464215980-snap-photo

I do not know if reading this title surprises you as much as writing it surprises me, but this seems to be the only conclusion we can make about findings from Bruniquel cave in France. An article by Ewen Callaway from Nature Magazine, on May 25, 2016, and reprinted by Scientific American online, describes arrangements of broken off pieces of stalagmites that I can only understand in terms of intentional structures.

"The six structures are made of about 400 large, broken-off stalagmites, arranged in semi-circles up to 6.7 metres wide. The researchers think that the pieces were once stacked up to form rudimentary walls. All have signs of burning, suggesting that fires were made within the walls. By analysing calcite accreted on the stalagmites and stumps since they were broken off, the team determined that the structures were made 174,400 to 178,600 years ago." (http://www.scientificamerican.com/)

cnrs_20160048_0006

There are two of the stone circles, and four piles of pieces of stalagmite accompanying them. All of this is found 1,000 feet from the entrance of the cave with at least one stretch that requires crawling to pass through.

"Now Jaubert et al. have published he results of their analysis of a remarkable set of structures discovered some 336 meters deep inside Bruniquel Cave in France. Made from the broken-off spears of roughly 400 stalagmites, these circular patterns and seemingly careful piles span between 2 and 7 meters in diameter, and strongly suggest the deliberate actions of someone, or something.

The astonishing aspect is the age that Jaubert et al. find for the formation. The broken pieces of the stalagmites have continued to grow layers since they were snapped off in the wet cave environment, and so the researchers were able to identify where the original calcite surfaces were in their core samples. They then used uranium-series radioisotope dating to come up with a time for the event of around 176,500 years ago (give or take about 2,100 years)." (Scharf, Caleb, 2016, http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/life-unbounded/176-000-year-old-neandertal-structures-and-life-in-the-universe/)

cnrs_20160048_0005_custom-1d179113df33bb0db56362ecd2047f76a0c8076b-s800-c85

To me this description can only be describing intentional construction from ca. 176,000 years ago, and at that period in time Neandertals were the only hominin in western Europe. 

“The big question is why they made it,” says Jean-Jacques Hublin, a palaeoanthropologist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany who was not involved in the study, which is published online in Nature on May 25. “Some people will come up with interpretations of ritual or religion or symbolism. Why not? But how to prove it?”" (http://www.scientificamerican.com/)

Now, back when I was an art history student, architecture was classified as an art form and included in the textbooks, so I am presenting this as rock art, of a sort. It also provides context for an appraisal of Neandertal creative cognitive ability, and we now know that they could, and did, create rock art. 
Get the full story from the Scientific American article cited below, or read the original in Nature Magazine.

REFERENCE:

Callaway, Ewen, 2016 http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/
neandertals-built-cave-structures-and-no-one-knows-why/

Scharf, Caleb, 2016
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/life-unbounded/176-000-year-old-neandertal-structures-and-life-in-the-universe/

FOR THE 4TH OF JULY, 2016:

All-American Man, Fremont, Salt

Creek, Canyonlands, San Juan

County, Utah. Photograph Don

Campbell, May 6, 1983.

PETROGLYPHS - INDIRECT VS. DIRECT PERCUSSION REVISITED - REVISITED AGAIN:

On may 14, 2016, I posted a column titled PETROGLYPHS - INDIRECT VS. DIRECT PERCUSSION REVISITED. In this I reported on experimental results published in 1999 by Jim Keyser and Greer Rabiega that addressed the question of indirect vs. direct percussion in the manufacture of petroglyphs. Their experiments proved that the use of a stone chisel between the rock face and the hammer stone allowed finer lines and better control in the finished petroglyph. My original denial of the concept (January 17, 2010, "Petroglyphs - Direct Vs. Indirect Percussion?")  had been based upon commonly seen illustrations that show the artist holding a hammer stone in one hand and a chisel made of a flaked stone point on a wooden or bone shaft in the other, chipping away at the rock face to make a petroglyph. Keyser had rightly recognized that I was not considering the use of a smaller hard rock as a chisel stone between the hammer stone and the rock face, and apprised me of the published results of their experiments.

Figure 1, chisel stone found at

Horsethief Lake State Park,

Washington, by James Keyser, 2007.

A short time later Keyser again contacted me and provided me with a copy of a paper he had published in 2007, about finding just such a chisel stone at Horsethief Lake State Park, Washington. While not directly associated with any particular petroglyph there, he reported that it was in the vicinity of a grouping of petroglyphs. "The chisel stone, a small quartzite river pebble measuring 3.5 x 4 x 1.3 centimeters in maximum length, width, and thickness (Fig. 1), was found by me in the eroded foot trail used to access the main areas of rock art in the park during a visit there in 2007. Although not directly associated with a petroglyph, the tool was within a few meters of two different rock art loci at 45KL58, both of which contain a few petroglyphs, and not far distant from a third that also has petroglyphs." (Keyser 2007)

Figure 2, experimental chisel stone.

Keyser and Rabiega, 1999.

The previously reported experiments (above) conducted by Keyser and his co-investigator had prepared him to recognize something that most of us would probably have overlooked. "As soon as I picked it up I recognized it immediately as a chisel stone exactly like several (Fig. 2) that I and a colleague had produced in an experiment a decade earlier (Keyser and Rubiega 1999: 130-132)." (Keyser 2007)

While experimental archaeology such as the project Keyser reported in 1999 cannot prove that something was definitely done in a particular way, it can prove that something might have been done that way. This finding of the actual artifact, however, seems to seal the deal on it. Indirect percussion was sometimes used in the production of petroglyphs, especially when fine details were the goal.

Keyser closed his paper with the statement "As such, it should put to rest the argument as to whether at least some petroglyphs were, in fact, manufactured by this technique." It does for me Jim, and thanks again.

REFERENCE:

James D. Keyser,

2007, DIRECT EVIDENCE FOR THE USE OF INDIRECT PERCUSSION IN PETROGLYPH MANUFACTURE, p.25-27, INORA International Newsletter On Rock Art, www.bradshawfoundation.com,vol. 49.

Keyser, James D. and Greer Rabiega,

1999,  Petroglyph Manufacture by Indirect Percussion: The Potential Occurrence of Tools and Debitage in Datable Context, Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, Vol.21, No. 1, pages 124 - 136.