This is a nice little site tucked into a quiet corner with development all around. Unfortunately it hasn’t escaped unscathed, even though it is mostly intact.

Somewhere on the Volcanic Tablelands tumbled breccia cliffs lines both sides of a little canyon. On the north side of this canyon, a little above the canyon floor, there is a rock shelter that has been augmented with a low rock wall.

A little rock shelter with a low wall stacked in front.

Its soot-blackened ceiling points to use as a hunting blind or camping site. The shelter is too small for comfortable habitation, and there are no nearby bedrock mortars or lithic scatter. There are areas of red ochre pigmentation on the rocks above and to the left of the shelter, but they appear to be natural.

A small distance east of this shelter is a large boulder with a flat, desert-varnished surface — a perfect surface for petroglyphs!

The petroglyph panel. Some elements, lower center, have been vandalized by gunshots.

The most prominent elements in the panel are large concentric circles designs of the kind found throughout the region.  The large circle element near the center has a thin cross inside, giving a crosshair appearance.

A sunrise-type element is present above this, and there are also a smaller burst element and some elements that look like bird tracks. Also noteworthy are two yoni-like symbols.

The whole panel is outlined with a border — a unique and surprising feature not present at any other sites in the area.  The border is unadorned on the left but has added hashes on the outside along the right side.

Early in the morning, the panel is still partly in shade.

Unfortunately, this site has not escaped vandalism. It has been shot at and some of the designs damaged. I have found a photograph of the site that dates from the early 1960’s or earlier, and shows the panel before it was damaged, so the damage is likely fairly recent.

The elements are pecked precisely if shallowly into the boulder. The lines are uniform and well-executed.

The panel in sunlight. The lower elements are now easier to see.

This site might have been a hunting site, shown by the apparent hunting blind built in front of the rock shelter, but the elements at the site do not evoke hunting magic. Representational symbols such as bighorn sheep or deer, often found at hunting magic sites, are absent. Many of the symbols, such as the concentric circles and the bird prints, evoke a similarity to others in the general region, but the site also has a unique feel to it. The presence of yoni-like symbols hint at a possible connection with fertility. The symbols are unvarnished and therefore likely not as old as some of the other art in the region, but desert varnish is a tricky indicator of age. This site is better protected from the elements than most, so that could also contribute to the lack of revarnishing.

Perching on a nearby boulder shows a nice top down view of the entire panel.

A few hundred yards east of the panel, a single Rectilinear petroglyph carved into a boulder was also shot at and damaged.

A single petroglyph a short distance away.

Fortunately, to date the site has escape additional vandalism despite there being some evidence of semi-regular visitation in the vicinity.

If you visit the site, please respect what remains and leave it as you found it for others to discover and enjoy.