La Cieneguilla Petroglyph Site is Awesome
June 19, 2012 4 Comments
La Cieneguilla Petroglyph Site
Petroglyphs are Carved on Black Basalt Boulders at Top of Mesa
Awesome Petroglyph Rock Wall
Petroglyph of Butterfly (double triangle)
Petroglyph of Kokopelli (right)
Petroglyph of Snake (center squiggle)
Petroglyph of Coyote
La Cieneguilla Petroglyph Site is an excellent place to view petroglyphs near Santa Fe. Hundreds of petroglyphs, or rock art images, were carved onto the black basalt boulders at the top of the mesa between the 13th and 17th centuries by the Pueblo Indians. The images are thought to symbolize events of deep cultural meaning or spiritual significance. The meaning of many images is unknown, and the site may have been a place of worship for a vanished tribe. The location of petroglyphs is important, as well as what the images are “looking” at. For example, this coyote petroglyph was placed in the shade, because coyotes hunt in the shadows. La Cieneguilla is especially famous for its images of birds and Kokopelli (the hump-backed flute-player). This place is really special. If you use your imagination, you can almost hear the notes of Kokopelli’s flute on the wind.
About Pam
Hi,
What a fabulous place to explore, so full of history, a lot of the rock art seems to be so high up just amazing.
This place was only discovered within the past 10 years. So interesting!
That is incredible, I hope now that it has been discovered they do try to preserve the art, it would be a shame if people started to deface it.
People visit it now to study the art. Happily the site is protected and preserved for future generations.