Shamans, spirals and warriors-rock art in Castle Rock Pueblo community, Colorado, USA through Native American oral traditions and archaeological interpretations
Shamans, spirals and warriors-rock art in Castle Rock Pueblo community, Colorado, USA through Native American oral traditions and archaeological interpretations
Shamans, spirals and warriors-rock art in Castle Rock Pueblo community, Colorado, USA through Native American oral traditions and archaeological interpretations
author:
Palonka Radosław
journal title:
Expresion
title of volume:
The message behind the image
volume:
16
date of publication
:
2017
pages:
112-125
ISSN:
2499-1341
language:
English
journal language:
English
abstract in English:
For the archaeologist, every additional bit of information about the culture studied is like striking gold, and can contribute to a more complete and credible reconstruction of prehi-storic reality. The ability to read and decode the information and content of Pueblo rock art from the canyons of the central Mesa Ver-de region, located on the border between pre-sent-day Utah and Colorado, is precisely this type of valuable information source. However, interpreting the information contained in the paintings and petroglyphs left on the walls of Colorado and Utah canyons hundreds or thou-sands of years ago is as fascinating as it is difficult. This paper presents the initial results from the research on one of the settlement clusters that consists of around 40 small sites and the community center that were built by ancient Pueblo people in the Sand Canyon area of the southwestern part of Colorado in the 13th century AD. The scientifc investigations encom-pass the documentation of the architecture and settlement structure, as well as petroglyphs and paintings from selected sites. The rock art and murals from the area include humans and animals, spirals, concentric cir-cles, as well as other geometric images. The in-terpretation is based on archaeological studies and the oral tradition of contemporary Pueblo people.