WHEELING WITH THE ANCIENT ONES
Four-Wheeling into History with a Jeeping Lifestyle Story
By Del Albright, Sustainable Motorized Recreation Advocate
The sun glared off the Jeep windshield as I tried to negotiate some ugly volcanic rocks in the Nevada desert just outside Virginia City. As I couldn't see the trail all that well (maybe the 2 inches of trail dust on the windshield had something to do with it), my shotgunner had her head hanging out the passenger window, spotting for me.
I was busy feeling the tires take turns doing unnatural things on the rocks when all of a sudden, I heard "Stop!" from my rider. Naturally, I did, but why is it that whenever your spotter or shotgunner wants you to stop, you're always in the middle of some predicament you'd rather not be in?
Because one of the first rules of wheeling is to listen to your spotter, I obeyed and queried as to why I was halted with one tire in the air and the Jeep somewhat off-level. "Look at the rocks next to your front tire," she politely answered. Oops. Not two feet in from my BFG, All Terrains were ancient petroglyphs (rock art).
I had been so busy watching the trail (when I could see through the dust) that I hadn't noticed I had found what I was looking for but had wandered much too close. Had I continued, I might have damaged the very thing I came to see.
Many overlanders and adventurers today enjoy the fun of backcountry exploring and finding interesting parts of our nation's history to see. My running mates love to wheel into old mining sites to explore the remnants of turn-of-the-century humanity. I've noticed that rock art also holds a fascination for a lot of my wheeling friends. Unfortunately, it's an adventure that is not well understood. In fact, a lot of folks don't know where to look or what they're seeing, but it's certainly worth checking out as part of our lifestyle in jeeps.
History Captured in Stone
The etchings mentioned above are now known as petroglyphs – designs carved or etched on the face of rocks. Petroglyphs are only one of three types of writings, or rock art that our predecessors left for us modern-day wheelers to read and enjoy.
Besides petroglyphs, the ancient ones left behind two other forms of rock art: Pictographs, which are paintings on rock, and geoglyphs, which are rock outlines and forms on the ground. And while you're at it, you might come across dinosaur tracks or petrified bones.
Nicely for us, many of the greatest archeological finds (rock art, dinosaur tracks, bones, etc.) are on public lands. As long we keep those public lands open to the public, we should be able to enjoy these sites for years to come.
History captured in stone can be seen in many places of our great country. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) should be one of your first stops for those who explore the West. The 270 million acres administered by the BLM have been called the "Jurassic Playground."
If you remember from the famous dinosaur movies, the Jurassic is a period when dinosaurs roamed the earth. But you should take the time to explain to your kids that no matter what the movies say, dinosaurs and humans do not coexist. We came after the big guys. So, when you find dinosaur tracks, bones, and rock art nearby, it doesn't mean our ancestors were throwing spears at Brontosaurus.
How Do I Find Rock Art?
Finding rock art is not that hard, but certainly, you can find yourself driving right past it if you don't know where to look or how to go about finding secret places that not many folks have visited. I suggest a five-step process.
1. Do some homework. Check out one of the 300 museums of natural history and science scattered across our great country, or visit your library or online search engine. Find out just a little about who/what existed in the area you explore. For example, if you were going to visit the historical features around Moab, Utah, or Death Valley, California, you would have no trouble finding plenty to read at the county museum or local bookstore. In fact, the Moab Information Center (Center and Main) hands out a free brochure entitled "Moab Area Rock Art Tour."
Logically, you would also pick up a good topo map that covers the area you're going to explore. Further, it goes without saying that you can search the Internet using keywords like "rock art" and "petroglyph." You'll find tons of sites to check out.
2. Contact the land management agency. If you wheel on BLM or US Forest Service lands, you have an automatic contact. They have resource specialists and interpretive naturalists that can point you in the right direction. Usually, they have handouts that specifically cover pre-historic sites, rock art, dinosaur tracks, etc. Round up all the maps, handouts, and brochures you can. Hey, if nothing else, these make for great reading for the kids while you're out fixing the Jeep!
3. Do a map recon. Here's a secret for you. There's always more to see than most government bureaucrats will tell you. First, all three of our big land management agencies, the BLM, USFS, and National Park Service, are faced with outlaws who vandalize our nation's heritage. Thus, our public officials can be reluctant to divulge all the neat spots to see. They don't want them torn up. Neither do I. It's a catch-22, you might say; on the one hand, we deserve access to our public lands, but who wants to travel rough roads or hike for hours only to find your neighbor's initials carved in an old rock? I've experienced this firsthand on more than one occasion.
Second,
as we see current politics closing so many of our roads and public lands, it
would be easy to think that some of our public officials would just as soon see
us stay home and watch the Discovery Channel. Again, I speak from firsthand
experience when I tell you that there are a few land management agency
officials who are so environmentally oriented that they'd prefer we not do
anything but hike the main trails on our public lands. You may have to use your
map to pinpoint where likely rock art sites could be – or at least rely on
someone other than your public servant to tell you where to look.
Please
don't think the above comments are directed at all our public land managers. I've
known some good ones who more than openly describe where great rock art sites
lay. Unfortunately, in my experience, they are not in the majority. So, be
persistent for information when doing your homework.
4 Put yourself in their shoes. Once you've done some homework, narrowed down your
search, and studied the map a bit, you're ready to hit the ground. If you have
a site pinpointed, be sure to take the time to visualize just why that site is
there. Put yourself in the shoes of the ancient ones and take a new look at the
terrain around you. Where would you camp? Where would you get water and food?
Where would you want to peck on the rocks for days on end? Then, use your map
and common sense to explore beyond what seems obvious.
I
found a pictograph (rock art painting) of what appears to be a Spanish
Conquistador on a horse, well above and out of the way of a known cave site
near Death Valley, California. I had stopped for a lunch break in the shade of
a rock while trying to find a different hiking trail back to my Jeep when I
realized the pictograph soldier was looking down at me. I had no idea he (and
several other pictographs) was in the area. Further map and terrain study (plus
a few inches of shoe leather) resulted in more finds – both petroglyphs and
pictographs.
5. Be prepared. Some basic things you should consider having with you to really enjoy rock art exploring include (besides a detailed topo map) good binoculars or even a spotting scope; a GPS unit; a walking stick (to poke for snakes and give you balance on the rocks); camera and film (take extra pictures to make sure you get a good one); water; a partner with a 4wd; and your reference material for interpreting what you're seeing.
What Does Rock Art Mean?
Now we get into the X-Files if we're not careful. I will tell you upfront that there is no agreement among experts as to what it all means. There is agreement on some basic concepts, and I'll share them with you here.
Growing numbers of experts say that the rock art and cave drawings are merely the outburst of medicine men who were under the influence of the trance-induced supernatural journeys of shamans. Other experts say they represent real maps, water supplies, depictions of the stars for navigation, or tribal boundaries. I guess you can imagine someone 2000 years from now finding your list from today of "things to do to my Jeep." Probably makes about as much sense<g>.
However, I have found certain agreements in the books I've studied, and I'll offer them to you as a starter. I warn you, though, that different areas throughout the country where different tribes of early humans existed had different ways of communicating. So again, back to doing your homework for your area of interest. I will give you some generic examples to start with.
Critters: Most critter representations seem pretty obvious. Typically, mountain sheep (four-legged with horns) look like sheep in side view. Lizards and salamanders also look life-like. Bears are unusual, but I have found bear-like, clawed figurines. Snakes (coiled lines) sometimes are easy to confuse with directional maps and even springs (water).
Maps/Terrain: Squiggly lines, seeming to end at a point, can be mapped to water or a hunting spot. Sometimes, you can find a celestial (star) map showing well-known astronomy formations.
Boundaries: Tribal shields, lines that look like fences, and repeated diagrams in the corner of a petroglyph display are sometimes indications of ownership and tribal/family boundaries.
Hidden Treasure: Just kidding.
Families: People holding hands, hunting, birthing, and growing up are all represented quite often in rock art.
Events: Floods, moon phases, drought, death, marriage, and many other events, man-made and natural, are common rock art themes.
I'm convinced that some geoglyphs (ground rock alignments) were game fields. I know of one in Death Valley where there's a nice hill overlooking the game field where I suspect the tribal elders sat and watched the kids play some sort of energetic game requiring boundaries (football?). Now, that's just my interpretation, but I believe it's as good as any.
Of course, you've seen television shows that depict geoglyphs that can only be distinguished from high altitudes (airships of some sort). I love Muldar and the X-Files, but our distinguished Editor would really take his red pencil to this story if we started elaborating on spaceships landing on 10,000-year-old rock-delineated landing strips. I'll leave it to your imagination – which is also part of the fun of wheeling to find rock art.
Enjoy Don't Destroy
Please remember to enjoy our great outdoors and not destroy what it is we most enjoy wheeling to see. Be cautious where you step (not only for the sake of snakes but also possible artifacts that may be around). Try to leave a historic area the same way (or better if there's trash around) than you found it. Take all the pictures you want, and be sure to take pictures from different angles, with and without flash, so you capture the rock art in its best light.
Never allow anyone in your group to doodle or mark up rock art sites. In fact, I personally do not hesitate to stop anyone from doing that on public lands. I'll make a citizen's arrest if necessary. Our heritage and our right to access it is just too precious to me to allow someone to damage it.
Vertebrate fossils, such as fish or dinosaur bones, are protected by law and may not be removed without a special research permit issued by the BLM. Rock art on public lands is also protected and should not be disturbed. Photograph all you want, though.
Most of us realize that it goes without saying that vandalism ruins it for everyone. Just like someone who drives off the trail/track, they are jeopardizing the enjoyment of the adventure for the rest of us. So, rule number one is when you find a historical representation of our past, please leave it the way you found it so someone else can gain a similar enjoyment.
Backcountry adventuring to find rock art sites and dinosaur remains/tracks is a safe, exciting, and rewarding activity for the whole family. Competition may develop in your group over who can find the best fossil or the best petroglyph (to admire). It's fun. Photographs shared with your non-wheeling friends are sure to be crowd-pleasers. And while you're out wheeling, finding new, exciting things, you're learning about our history and imagining what it was like long before us.
Oh, and one more image for you to think about. I once discovered a cave near Death Valley, California, hidden in a remote canyon while out by myself, miles from anyone.
The desert air was dead still. Nothing was stirring. No sounds carried to my ears. I was alone until I got within good viewing distance of the cave entrance. My imagination labeled it a "spirit cave."
As I lifted my camera to take a shot, I saw dust rise from the floor just outside the mouth of the cave in what we might consider the patio area. There were no birds, no bats, no nothing. Yet, something stirred that dust cloud as I approached.
As I smoothed the ruffled hair on the back of my neck, I whispered out loud: "I came only to take pictures."
******
MORE HELPFUL LINKS:
DEL'S BOOKS (LAND USE, WILDFIRE, DEATH VALLEY, COWBOY POETRY, AND MORE)
WEBSITE (HOME PAGE)
PINTEREST (BOOKS, ARTICLES, AND MORE)
DEL'S ARTICLES (LAND USE, LIFE, WILDFIRE, VOLUNTEERISM, AND MORE)
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