Petroglyphs

Petroglyphs

“Petroglyphs” was featured in the group American Southwest

Photo taken along the Mouse’s Tank trail in the Valley of Fire, Nevada, USA, beginning of December 2008, with my Canon PowerShot S5 IS camera.

Petroglyphs are images created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, pecking, carving, and abrading. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as “carving”, “engraving”, or other descriptions of the technique to refer to such images. Petroglyphs are found world-wide, and are often (but not always) associated with prehistoric peoples. The word comes from the Greek words petros meaning “stone” and glyphein meaning “to carve” (it was originally coined in French as pétroglyphe).

The term petroglyph should not be confused with pictograph, which is an image drawn or painted on a rock face. Both types of image belong to the wider and more general category of rock art. (Source: Wikipedia)

Information from Wikipedia, concerning Valley of Fire:
Valley of Fire State Park is Nevada’s oldest State Park. It covers an area of 34,880 acres (141 km²) and was dedicated in 1935.

Valley of Fire is located 50 miles (80 km) northeast of Las Vegas at an elevation of between 2,000 and 2,600 feet (610 and 790 m). It abuts the Lake Mead National Recreation Area at the Virgin River confluence. It lies in a basin 4 miles (6 km) wide by 6 miles (10 km) long, 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Clark County, Nevada.

The rough floor and jagged walls of the park contain brilliant formations of eroded sandstone and sand dunes more than 150 million years old. These features, which are the centerpiece of the park’s attractions, often appear to be on fire when reflecting the sun’s rays.

The Valley of Fire derives its name from red sandstone formations, formed from great shifting sand dunes during the age of dinosaurs. Complex uplifting and faulting of the region, followed by extensive erosion, have created the present landscape. Other important rock formations include limestones, shales, and conglomerates.

Prehistoric users of the Valley of Fire included the Ancient Pueblo Peoples, also known as the Anasazi who were farmers from the nearby fertile Moapa Valley. The span of approximate occupation has been dated from 300 B.C. to 1150 A.D. Their visits probably involved hunting, food gathering, and religious ceremonies, although scarcity of water would have limited the length of their stay. Fine examples of rock art left by these ancient peoples can be found at several sites within the park.

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