THIS PAGE IS A GROUPING OF
PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN FROM FIELD TRIPS
OF
PETROGLYPHS, PICTOGRAPHS, GEOGLYPHS,
PETROFORMS, AND OTHER
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES....ENJOY!   
THE FOLLOWING PHOTOS WERE TAKEN IN OCTOBER OF 2004
FROM MY TRIP TO THE LAS VEGAS AREA, SOUTHERN UTAH, AND
NORTHERN ARIZONA WITH THE URARA GROUP
Brief descriptions are based on my research
The above photos were taken approximately 7 miles (hiking) in from trail head at Snake Gulch in Northern Arizona.
These pictographs were painted c. 2,000 BCE by "Basketmaker" People.  The charcoal boxing figures are recent (?)
These are from a private site located at Johnson Ranch/Oak Canyon in Southern Utah.  The site is a shear cliff face with
petroglyphs at below ground level (significance of age) to several meters high.  The first shot is the Johnson family home.
The last few are panning out away from the site.  What a beautiful ranch site!
These four photos are from The Valley of Fire North of Las Vegas, NV in an area
called "Mouse's Tank".  A renegade Comanche hiding from the law in the early 1900's
survived for months here on the water located in these natural pools called "tanks".
THE FOLLOWING PHOTOGRAPHS WERE TAKEN FROM MY TRIP TO
CENTRAL WISCONSIN IN MAY OF 2005 WITH
THE ESRARA GROUP
This is the Lemonweir Site.  Privately owned by the Ho-Chunk Nation and is located on the Wisconsin River.  The site is
gated and not open to the public.  Badly vandalized, but you can see clearly that fish and underwater monsters are
represented here.  The 2-inch deep grooves were the bi-product of awl or tool sharpening.  The last picture is a portion
of the overhanging cliff that juts out over the water.  It looks like an eagle's head which may have been why The People
chose the site for ceremonial purposes.
The Samuel's Cave site is another example
of severe vandalism.  The property owner
attempted to keep people out with a make
shift door and lock, but it was poorly done.
The damage is so significant that I did not  
take many photos....sad situation.
The Bell-Coulee Site was acquired by the Archaeological
Conservancy and will be saved for many generations to come.  
Unfortunately, rock art that is East of the Mississippi River
receives much weathering and even though there is very little
if any vandalism here the images are hard to see due to this
deterioration.  Although, the bison looks great!
These are pictures from the Peachy and Lodoga petroform sites and a very large mound site.  A petroform is when rocks are
laid out on the Earth's surface to make patterns or animal/human effigies.  In this case turtles were created and right
where the heart should be is a red rhyolite rock.  The first photo is a location that the farmer disturbed some years ago and
the local archaeology staff and students at Ripon College are attempting to piece it back together using soil sample dating.
When the property was first acquired by farmers generations ago there was a very large medicine wheel which was cleared
away and is now a pile of rocks.   It's a shame that they did not know what we know now on the significance of these sites.
THE FOLLOWING PHOTOGRAPHS WERE TAKEN ON MY TRIP
TO BLUFF, UTAH WITH THE ARARA GROUP AND THE URARA
GROUP IN MAY OF 2006
The above group of photographs were taken at the Butler Wash Panel located on the San Juan River in Southeast Utah.
This site can only be reached by raft trip down the river through local outfitters.  It is considered one of the top
sites in North America for size, quality, and aesthetics.  The larger images are in the 4 to 6 foot high range.
They were probably created c. 2300BCE by Basketmaker People (Ancestral Pueblo).   The raft trip was relatively
inexpensive and was an all day trip with a fresh shore lunch served and a very knowledgeable guide.   For legal reasons,
the outfitter had you sign a disclaimer which made the trip sound much worse than it was....most people could take it!
The above photos are from the Horseshoe Canyon Sites in Canyon Lands National Park.  This is a small sampling of the
photos I took from 4 sites on the 4.2 mile trip.  We started out at 5:30 am and drove for 3 hours from Bluff to the
trail head.  We were fortunate to have a local forest ranger as a guide.  It was an 800 foot decent down a rough
trail leading into the canyon and the remaining mileage was sandy dry creek bed.  This is considered the top site in
North America for pictographs.  Getting to it is for those who are in good physical shape...I had my moments of
visions of a helicopter coming to rescue me.  This is the same area a man cut his arm off from being pinned under a
boulder to free himself....good example of never hiking in areas like this alone.  These images have been dated to
correlate with a primitive hunter-gatherer type people at c. 8,000-10,000 BCE    An Outstanding Trip!!
THE FOLLOWING PHOTOGRAPHS WERE TAKEN
ON MY TRIP TO NORTHWESTERN ARKANSAS
AT PETIT JEAN STATE PARK WITH THE ESRARA
GROUP IN MARCH OF 2007
"Turtle Rocks"  Named
this way because they
appear to look like the
backs of turtles  some
were rather large-12
feet in diameter
located on the path to
Rock House Cave.
These red ochre pictographs are located at Rock House Cave.  There is a
common cross pattern, a dancer with out stretched arms (image is
sideways), a paddle fish with fish trap, a corn plant or anthropomorph,
and a mask-like image.
These are from various sites around Petit Jean State Park.  A sunburst and plant which you had to
crawl on your back to get a shot of it.  A quadruped; one of the few petroglyphs; a couple of views
of a fiddlehead fern emerging in the spring (an outstanding image!); and an anthropomorph.
Pictograph of a chenopodium
(lamb's quarters).  Natives
cultivated the seeds beginning
around 4,000 years ago.
Pictographs of masks with head dresses and
ear spools.  The mask on the far right
pigment was removed with state permission
for analysis - nothing found as of yet.
Another lonely pictograph
along the trail in Seven
Hollows.  Unfortunate
bird dropping damage.
Combination of pictographs and petroglyphs at this site.  Spirals meaning migration(?)
and a map leading to where they migrated to (??)
Petroglyph of a serpent or a possible Piasa (?)
THE NEXT LARGE BLOCK OF PHOTOS IS FROM MY TRIP IN
JUNE/JULY 2007 ACROSS THE NORTHERN PLAINS WITH STOPS
ALONG THE WAY TO THE ARARA CONFERENCE IN BILLINGS, MT
THE JEFFERS PETROGLYPH SITE
SOUTH-CENTRAL, MINNESOTA
This boulder of Sioux quartz
which is about 5 feet high was
used for centuries as a buffalo
rubbing stone.  The bison would
use it to aid in the removal of
their spring moult. It shined like
smooth glass!
Upon reaching the Jeffers site I realized my timing was poor.  With the direct noon sun
overhead the petroglyphs were nearly washed out.  Best time to photograph would be either
just after sunrise or just before sunset.  Lots of problems for the site caretakers with lichen
and moss growth over the images.  The site was well worth a side trip from I-90.  I left
Chicago about 4a.m. and got there about noon.  Located about an hour north of the interstate  
in south-central Minnesota.  I continued on from there by about 2p.m. and reached my motel in
Wall, SD before sundown.  The museum and gift shop made the side trip all that much more
enjoyable!
This next site is Pictograph Cave located south of Billings, MT.  
The Quality of the rock art is poor, but still worth visiting.  No
facilities at the site, but the state is building a museum there
and improving the trails in 2008.
This next grouping of photos is another side trip on the way to the conference.  Bear Gulch Pictographs now open to the
public....website:  www.beargulch.net
Oregon Archaeological Society spent a significant amount of time recording the site and performing several test digs in
the area.  The site comprises mostly of painted and scratched shield warriors dated between 1300 and 1700 AD and over
800 have been recorded which represents more shield warriors in this location than all other locations combined in the
WORLD!  The images on average are the size of an open hand with a number as small as the head of an eraser with detail!  
Most were painted with red ochre over 310 million year old limestone.  The size of the images were determined by the
width of the limestone banding on the cliff face.  This is one of the most amazing sites I have ever been to and deserves
recognition and protection for many generations to come.  The land owner, Macie Lundin, gives seasonal tours and she
plans on building an on site museum in the near future.  Located in central Montana near Lewistown.
Entering the
site, about a
half mile hike
downhill, but up
on the way out!
Shield of "Bear Comes
Out".  To initiate
into this bear society
one has to wake a
hibernating bear and
let it chase you down.
A classic shield
design with a large
bustle usually made
of bird feathers or
animal skins.
A lying down image
could represent
death or a trance
state.
These two are higher
and well out of reach
on the cliff face and
still no larger than a
dessert plate.
These two photos are of a birthing scene.  
The image on the left is that of the father
in "couvad" in which he is some distance
away from the mother and acts out her
experience to help relieve her burden.
The birthing mother is surrounded by her
guides or helpers, one is a obvious turtle.