There is no question of the importance of shadows in rock art. Some faint petroglyphs can only be seen when extreme side lighting produces shadows. Archeoastronomy sites often use shadows markers as pointers to mark their phenomena. We included these examples in our studies of rock art. This shadow figure is produced by the shape of the rocks casting it. Thus, rock art?
Twice a year the setting sun at Apache Junction, Arizona, casts a huge shadow of a cougar in the Superstition Mountains. In this case the shadow does not enhance the rock art, the shadow is the art. This phenomenon is visible twice a year in Apache Junction, Arizona. “If you want to see this phenomenon in person, head to the vicinity of 13th Ave & Goldfield Road in Apache Junction for a relatively unobstructed view. Timing is critical. The cougar only appears during the third week (14-21) of March and September. The last 30 minutes before official sunset is prime time for viewing.” (March 2017)
There are a couple of main differences between this phenomenon and our more traditional study of rock art. The first and most obvious is scale, this thing is huge. The second main difference is that, as far as we know, there was no involvement of people in its creation. It appears to be an accident of nature. Does that disqualify it from inclusion in our field of interest? If you think so then consider this to be merely an interesting aside, but I find it so fascinating that I could not overlook it. Perhaps not art, but certainly possessing rock involvement in its creation.
NOTE: I found many short articles online about this phenomenon, all seem to be copies of each other, and I could not tell which one would have been first. I selected the following as my Reference because it seemed somewhat more complete than the others.
REFERENCES:
March, Paul, 2017, Superstition Mountains Cougar Shadow Appears Only a Few Days a Year,
https://azwonders.com. Accessed online 27
September 2023.
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