This is one of the most awe-inspiring sites I’ve visited to date, because of the feeling of great age and meaning that surrounds this site – more so than most other sites I have been to. The volcanic tuff making up the boulders in this vicinity is relatively soft ( for rock! ) but also quite rough to the touch. Yet, at this site, a lot of the surface area is worn smooth and patinated. That is the kind of look only rock touched by human hands over a great period of time will acquire.
Some researchers speculated about the astronomical ties this site might have to the winter solstice, and estimated that the site may have first come into use at around 250 B.C. to 250 A.D. If true, that is an impressive age.
Rather than go into detail I will give a brief summary of the purported solstice observations at this site because I haven’t done the research myself or visited the site during the winter solstice. John Rafter researched this site in 1985 and 1991 to come up with some of the information I refer to in this entry, and Merle F. Walker added greatly to this data by producing some of the dates and hypothesis that I also refer to in this entry.
There are a couple of theories regarding how the Counsel Rocks site is a winter solstice site. One is connected to observation of the sunrise, and the other to observation of the sunset. The sunrise theory doesn’t hold a whole lot of water since it is sensitive to the position of the observer’s head and the horizon is rather featureless. However, the sunset theory holds promise since there is indeed a notch through which to watch the sun set, and there is also a small rock, or “heelstone”, that marks the observation spot. This rock is worn somewhat smooth on two sides, possibly by the feet of many generations of sunset observers standing on it to observe the sunset.
With this knowledge some of the petroglyphs that are otherwise rather nondescript become potentially very interesting. There is a petroglyph line running along the northern side of the hollow rock, and according to a research paper the eastern end of this line is touched by a ray of sunlight at sunset on the winter solstice. I have not confirmed this in person and I have also not confirmed if this same display of light is present at other times of the year, but because of the layout of this site it seems likely that this display is not present for very long. I have personally found that some sites claiming a special display on a solstice actually exhibit the same display year-round or for a large portion of the year. I find it important to observe possible “solstice sites” at other times of the year to see if the claimed display truly only happens around the solstice.
The site consists of two boulders, one of which has two tunnels through it. Along the northern side of one of these tunnels on the floor is a zig-zag pattern consisting of seven lines, as well as an inverted V. Near the winter solstice sunset sunlight is said to enter through this main, west-facing tunnel and line up with the westernmost line of the zigzag. It then reportedly progresses along the zigzag until the moment of sunset, when it disappears.
So, looking at the worn, patinated petroglyphs inside the hollow, it is natural to ask: how old might this be?
Some amazingly detailed research was put into this by Walker. The data that he produced suggests that the petroglyphs may have been produced during an interval of about 250 B.C – 250 A.D, based on the way sunlight interacts with the site and the count of tally marks represented by certain petroglyphs.
It is suggested in a research paper by Walker that one of the pictographs ( not petroglyphs ) at the site was added at a later date to account for subtle shifts of the earth on its axis changing the number of days the sun rose through a notch near the winter solstice. The original petroglyph marker has eight tally lines, while the pictograph has seven tally lines. If this hypothesis is valid then the “update” pictograph was produced between A.D 270 and 350.
Interestingly enough, data shows that by about A.D 670, another change to the number of tally lines would have been required, but no petroglyph or pictograph seems to match. Perhaps this means that over time the observatory fell into disuse.
With this information at our disposal, let’s approach the site.
An overview of the wonderful site we’ll be looking at today. On the left is a large rock with a hollow, and on the right a rock with not just one but two tunnels through it.
The boulder to the left. There are some black pictographs towards the ceiling, and also some petroglyphs at the bottom of the hollow.
There we go – a good view of the petroglyphs. They are rough and worn except for the circular element, which is not as patinated and is therefore likely newer.
The faded black petroglyphs in the overhang. The most distinct elements are the rows of dots, and the three parallel lines with the V towards the left.
DStretch helps us see these elements more clearly but doesn’t really show us anything new. The pinkish color is some red pigment that is now very faded. The two rows of dots are thought to be part what marks this site as a winter solstice observatory, helping to count the days during which the setting sun was visible in a notch in the skyline as viewed through a gap between the rocks at this site. This number of days have changed over the centuries as the earth wobbles a bit on its axis.
By getting right into the hollow we can see the black pictographs square on.
A good blast of DStretch magic helps us see what may be a very faint circular element towards the bottom, and possibly some other now indistinct elements towards the left of it.
One last glance at these elements. Now it is time to look at the other side of this rock.
It was hard to see, harder to photograph, and will be hardest for you to see in this picture! There is a very long linear petroglyph on the rock face, starting around the U-shape roughly in the center of the picture and running towards the viewer. You can also see the rock holding the centerpiece of this site peeking out at right, and a dumbbell-shaped element lower right.
Now, let’s look at the other rock, which has two tunnels running through it. This is a fantastic site.
It is hard to take everything in at once, there is so much going on. This gives an overview of the two tunnels. The one on the left faces westerly and its floor is lined with petroglyphs while the ceiling has black pictographs. The tunnel on the right is unadorned. If you don’t usually click photos to enlarge them, this is one you might want to do that with. You’ll see the petroglyphs extend all the way left to right across the floor of the large tunnel mouth, one of the things that made photography hard at this site since you have to really contort yourself to not step on any petroglyphs.
A glance through the second, unadorned tunnel, back towards the rock on the left that we just finished looking at. Next we’ll look at all those petroglyphs we just saw.
A glimpse from ground level. There is some standing room lower down that will let us get a better look, so we’ll hop up on that next.
Now we can see the petroglyphs pretty well. They cover the floor of the large tunnel before it bifurcates. One of the petroglyph lines, far right, trails off to the outside of the rock and out of sight. The afternoon sunlight gives the whole scene a nice glow.
Looking down at the right-hand portion of the floor, we see a cross-shaped petroglyph far right, and various lines and abstract designs crisscrossing as we scan to the left, until we see what looks like a flower symbol, upper left, and some cupules lower left. One of these cupules is quite prominent.
The leftmost portion of the floor. We see the grouping of cupules and the flower-like design, and we also see other meander-lines, a complex element to the left of the flower-like design, and note that the lip of the smaller tunnel has some deeply incised petroglyphs. Also note the shine from the deep patina the rock face has acquired in this tunnel.
The smooth interior of the largest cupule. It is very precisely ground.
Sunlight and shadow along the edge of the largest tunnel.
The cluster of smaller cupules, with the largest one in the bottom left.
Detail of the petroglyphs just above the cupule cluster.
One of the very distinctive elements at the site. Researchers who interpret this site as having a connection to the “Lone Woman of the Cave” legend tie this element in with that legend. In the legend, the sun impregnated a woman with its rays, and this element is said to represent a vulva-form with the rays of the sun projecting up from the bottom of the picture.
This meander line occurs towards the left of the petroglyph panel.
An overview of the petroglyphs we just saw. The surrounding rock is patinated and worn smooth by many years of human touch.
Time to peek into the western ( left-hand side ) tunnel. Note how smooth the floor is! Many, many years of human touch worn it smooth like this. Incredible. In this picture you can see the tally lines at the lip, with two arrow-like bars on the left. Toward the right, on the tunnel floor, you can see a few lines from a zig-zag petroglyph. All of these elements pertain to the theory of this site as a solstice observation site: near the solstice the edge of sunlight shining into this tunnel touches each of the zig-zag’s bars in turn, and the other element depict tally lines that tie into the number of days around the solstice that the sun would have set through a notch in the skyline beyond this tunnel.
Glancing back through the tunnel in the direction we were just looking from. Note the smoothed tunnel floor.
The author after taking the picture we just looked at.
Another look at the zig-zag line that features some interplay with sunlight around sunset on the solstice.
The double arrow line at the end of the notches at the mouth of the tunnel.
The zig-zag element is hard to see.
The lip between the larger entrance and the undecorated tunnel also features what looks like tally marks.
Some long petroglyph lines just beyond the tally lines we just saw.
The amount of patination on the lip of the tunnel is amazing. Also note the black pictographs on the roof of the tunnel. They are very hard to make out clearly, so we will be using DStretch.
Tally lines. Research suggests that some of these may be counters related to the solstice as well.
We can tweak things with DStretch to get a clearer look.
There might be a faint set of tiny tally marks right on the lip.
Even with DStretch I’m not really sure, but we do get a closer look at the other tally lines this way.
Over close to the zig-zag element, visible in the lower left here, there are some additional black pictographs.
Interesting. Circles and maybe some basic anthropomorphic shapes? Also note the element in the lower right corner of this picture. You may have seen it lurking to the side in earlier pictures, too. It is actually up towards the ceiling, the perspective is a bit out of whack in this picture. It was hard to take pictures without touching any of the elements!
We can do a little better with our framing of these pictographs, I think. They show up pretty well in natural color.
With this second attempt at framing the pictographs we get a much better DStretch result. I see circles, a small anthropomorph, darker than the other elements, some bursts in circles, and a rayed element.
The element I just referred to. This may also be tally lines related to the solstice properties of this site. Some of these tally groupings number 8, others number 7. Over time, the number of days the sun is visible in a notch in the skyline around the solstice decreases. These markers may have kept track of that.
A closer look with DStretch. The element is in a little recess that might have been painted with red pigment before the black pigment was added.
Time for a last glance at the pictographs in the western tunnel.
Well, that concludes our visit to this amazing site. In the background, between the cleft of the two boulders, you can see the feature in the skyline that the sunset reportedly shines through on the winter solstice: a little notch in the skyline just to the left of the right-hand boulder.
This is a fairly well-known site, and a really special one. If you visit, make sure to leave absolutely no trace of your visit, and do not touch the fading pictographs. This site has a great feeling of age and significance to it. Make sure to spend a bit of time here to quietly soak up that atmosphere.