OF COURSE THEY ARE TOOL SHARPENING GROOVES - BUT WHAT ELSE MIGHT THEY BE?

Tool-sharpening grooves,

Picture Canyon, Baca County, CO.

Photo Peter Faris, 21 Sept., 1986.

In southeastern Colorado there are large numbers of sites that have rows of lines or grooves pecked or ground into the rock. Over the years attempts have been made to decipher them as Ogam inscriptions, counts of some sort, even ribstones as proposed by Larry Loendorf, or just tool-sharpening grooves.

"Ribstones may vary in their details but all consist of a long, vertical line or groove along the length of a boulder that is crossed by shorter grooves, creating a figure that represents the backbone and ribs of a buffalo. The grooves have been pecked and abraded into the boulder surface a depth of 1 or 2 centimeters, and a series of cupule-like holes have been placed between the lines. The inclusion of pecked eyes, ears, a mouth, and horns, suggests a living buffalo, and the presence of buffalo hoofprints on a number of boulders created the impression of movement." (Loendorf 2008:214)

Tool-sharpening grooves,

Picture Canyon, Baca County, CO.

Photo Peter Faris, 21 Sept., 1986.

This is a surprisingly good description of many of the panels that I mention above, enigmatic collections of tool-sharpening grooves that seem to beg for additional identity. I personally have made many attempts to link them to some type of count, from calendar to number of game animals bagged, with no convincing success.

Now, a recent discovery at the site of the Roman town of Interamna Lirenas, located 90 miles southeast of Rome, have suggested another possibility, that of sundials.

Roman hemicyclium, Archaeology,

May-June 2018, p.68.

"The limestone sundial measures about 21 inches by 13 inches by 10 inches (54 by 35 by 25 centimeters), and has a bowl-like face engraved with 11 hour lines, which mark the 12 hours of daylight. Three curved lines intersect perpendicularly with these hour lines, marking when the winter solstice, equinox and summer solstice should happen researchers said.

The sundial's iron needle that casts shadows - known as a gnomon - is missing but its lead base is still there, the researchers noted they added that this type of bowl-like sundial is known as a hemicyclium, and was common during the Roman period." (Geggel 2017)

Blessed Twins inscription (5LA2224),

2975±200 BP , Las Animas County,

CO. Photo Peter Faris, 24 May 1987.

Each of the examples herein of the tool groove groupings have cracks or crevices in the rock face that a piece of wood, a section of tree limb perhaps, could be jammed into to served as a gnomon. Could they have been intended as sundials by their Native American creators? That would require a whole lot of research, to begin with I do not have records of the original orientation of these panels so I cannot say which way they faced. Would a couple of them thrown shadows at all? I also have no idea of the units of passing time that they would have measured, did Native American peoples of southeast Colorado divide the day up like we do?

In most instances I also have no record of the direction these panels face which would, of course, be of major importance if they were used as sundials. What is their orientation?

Tool-sharpening grooves,

Hackberry Springs, Bent County, CO.

Photo Peter Faris, 21 Sept., 1986.

Given the uncertainties of the sundial possibility, balanced against Larry Loendorf's description of ribstones, I think we will have to go with Larry on this one - they are ribstones - at least until I hear a better suggestion.

NOTE: The sundial image in this posting was retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain photographs. If this images was not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them. For further information on these reports you should read the originals at the sites listed below.

REFERENCES:

Geggell, Laura

2017 Time to Celebrate: Ancient Sundial Made to Celebrate Roman Politician, Live Science, November 9, 2017

Loendorf, Larry

2008 Thunder and Herds, Rock Art of the High Plains, Left Coast Press, Walnut Creek, CA.

Lobell, Jarrett A.

2018 Artifact,  Archaeology , p. 68, May/June 2018

A NAVAJO ROCK ART SITE IN THE CENTRAL COLORADO MOUNTAINS?

Almont rock art site, CO.

Photo, Jared Allen, 2016.

I recently received some fascinating pictures and information from Jared Allen. Jared shared some photographs of a rock art site near Almont, in Gunnison County, Colorado. A couple of the photos show deeply incised grooves or the sort usually defined as tool sharpening grooves, although some of the grooves appear to be arranged purposefully to create a tree-like image. Much more interesting, however, are a couple of Jared's photographs that illustrate what appear to be Navajo Yei (Holy People) figures. Almont is a considerable distance from the current region of Navajo habitation, so what gives here?

Almont rock art site, CO.

Photo, Jared Allen, 2016.

Almont, Colorado, is approximately 9 miles north of the town of Gunnison, and 60 miles NW of Saguache. Some references place the early Navajo and the boundaries of Dinetah, the Navajo homeland, far enough north and east of their present territory that it includes the San Luis Valley in south/central Colorado. "Dinétah encompasses a large area of northwestern New Mexico, southwestern Colorado, southeastern Utah, and northeastern Arizona. The boundaries are inexact, and are generally marked by mountain peks which correspond to the four cardinal directions." (Wikipedia) Indeed, Mount Blanca, one of the Navajo four holy mountains is located in the Sangre de Cristo mountain range on the east side of the San Luis Valley.

Almont rock art site, CO.
Recurved bow held by
figure on the right.

Photo, Jared Allen, 2016.

The right figure in this group appears to be holding a recurved bow considered a hallmark of athapaskan peoples and, thus, a possible Navajo identifier (see below).

Yei pictographs showing recurved
bow, Delgadito Canyon. Picture
from www.nm.blm.gov/.

"In Navajo tradition, the Holy People, or Yeis, are sometimes shown holding "recurved" bows. This technological innovation is thought by some to have been introduced by the ancestors of today's Navajo and Apache. The distinctive double curve is sometimes shown alone as a symbol for Naayee' Neizghani, or Monster Slayer, one of the Hero Twins." (www.nm.blm.gov/)

If these images are indeed Navajo in origin they are probably dated from back early in the athapaskan entrance into this area, as with the passage of time the Navajo gravitated farther south and west. "The Navajo occupation of the region has been divided into two major phases - the Dinetah phase (ca. 1500-1630, which includes the entrance and settling of the area by the Navajo, and the Gobernador phase (ca. 1630-1800), during which time the Navajo culture became fully defined." (Wikipedia)

So, if these Navajo figures are authentic, they are probably fairly early, or evidence of a later wanderer.

REFERENCES:

http://www.nm.blm.gov/features/dinetah/navajo_history_2.html

Wikipedia

NOT REALLY ROCK ART - TOOL GROOVES:

Tool sharpening grooves in a boulder.

Freezeout Canyon, Baca County,

Colorado. Photo: Peter Faris, 1996.

There are certain types of rock markings that really should not be called rock art. One of these is the tool sharpening groove. These are created by the act of sharpening a bone or antler-tine awl on the rock surface. As the tool is sharpened it also wears away the surface of the rock. As the point becomes sharper the groove it wears is also narrower, eventually becoming a “v-shaped” groove abraded into the rock.  Another type of tool mark on the surface of the rock is a wider, shallow smoothed area that is created by sharpening the edge of a stone tool such as an axe.  Many examples of these can be seen in the illustration of the site from the Picketwire Canyonlands. Another example often lumped in with rock art (or at least recorded with the rock art at a site) is the bedrock metate, a shallow hollow in a horizontal rock surface that was used for grinding plant materials with a hand held stone called a mano.

Tool sharpening grooves in cliff,

Picketwire Canyon, Bent County,

CO. Photo: Peter Faris, 1997.

Linea Sundstrom has pointed out that tool grooves can be helpful in roughly estimating dates. Tool sharpening grooves essentially ceased being made when trade with Anglos, whether European or American, began to trade goods for furs, because among early essential items for such trade were metal awls and needles. This suggests that any rock markings that can be identified as tool grooves were basically prehistoric. The presence of tool grooves also suggests either a habitation site or, at least, a site where preparations for domestic chores were conducted. I believe we got into the habit of including these indications of industrial practices in with rock art because when rock art is being recorded it is considered important to record all features on the surface of the rock, including tool grooves, axe sharpening hollows, and bedrock mutates.

Some examples can be found where tool-sharpening grooves have been incorporated into rock art images.  I have seen tool sharpening grooves that had been turned into lizards by the addition of four legs paired on both sides of the groove by pecking or abrasion.

If the tool groove is somehow incorporated into a rock art image as in the lizards mentioned above, then I would classify the modified tool groove as rock art. If the tool groove, however, is not modified, or demonstrably incorporated into rock art elements, I will have to classify it as another element of the rock surface that needs to be recorded, but not as rock art.