Rock art in Canyon de Chelly. People have lived in the canyon for at least 4500 years. And they have left many artworks carved in or painted on the rock walls there.
I've not been able to discover which group and from which period this art is from. The best reference I have puts it during the Pueblo period which was from 750 - 1300 CE. So I'll go with that. The Navajo who live there now refer to these people as the Anasazi, which literally means "ancestors of our enemies" but in common vernacular means "ancient ones".
I've also learned that the negative hand print is relatively rare. Rarer still is the reclining flute player, of which there but three examples in the canyon (there are more flute player images, but only three reclining). It is also not clear if the flue player is Kokopelli. Kokopelli is a figure in Hopi lore and the Hopi did visit the canyon. But not all flute players are Kokopelli.
The hand print is thought to be the signature of the artist. Perhaps the multiple hand prints means that there were multiple artists over time.
2 comments:
Neat pic. I like the lizard-looking glyph.
Really interesting, great bit of history - and photo of course. Do envy that sunshine, cold and drizzle here at the moment.
Yes, I am going to do the next challenge and really happy to hear you are as well. Let us know when your blog is up and ready and I will link it to mine.
Here's the link to mine:
www.lindajayphotography.co.uk
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