I
recently received a communication from Jared Peltzman including a number of photographs he took of rock art at Sweetwater Cave, northwest of the town of Dotsero here
in Colorado.
Photograph Jared Peltzman.
Sweetwater Cave, Colorado.
Photograph Jared Peltzman.
According
to Peltzman "A branch of the Dotsero
Ute Trail starts on the eastern bank of the lake." (Peltzman 2020)
His
photographs show predominately Ute Indian pictographs.
Ute pictograph.
Sweetwater Cave, Colorado.
Photograph Jared Peltzman.
Photograph Jared Peltzman.
"This
was an obvious stop on the ancient Ute trail, during the seasonal rounds
between the high and low country. Within this cave are protohistoric and
historic era Ute pictographs, painted in charcoal, ochre, and other plant and
mineral based pigments. It depicts hunters on horseback, animals such as
bighorn sheep, bison, and deer, and a few abstract designs including a large
yellow and red shield or "medicine wheel" symbol on one of the back
walls, where light directly hits it through the entrance." (Peltzman
2020)
Ute pictograph.
Sweetwater Cave, Colorado.
Photograph Jared Peltzman.
According
to Peltzman "it is about 7800-7900
feet above sea level, and is a very rich and diverse ecosystem. It is very
pristine and beautiful, with tons of wildlife (including bald eagles) and old
growth forests lining the limestone cliffs." (Peltzman 2020)
Back
on December 16, 2011, I wrote a column titled Ochre Pigment in Pictographs in which I included photos of some Ute
pictographs and also some ochre mined in a cave named Shield Cave. These
illustrations from Sweetwater Cave fit closely, both in subject and in style,
to some of the pictographs from Shield Cave. As the two caves are roughly 12 miles
apart the pictographs could well have been made by members of the same band.
I
am grateful to Jared Peltzman for sharing his photographs with us and giving me
permission to reproduce them. Thank you Jared.
REFERENCE:
Peltzman,
Jared
2020 Personal communication.
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