RECORDED IN STONE
Petroglyph sites around the state preserve artistic artifacts left by cultures that were here before Columbus
The Petroglyph National Monument, which recently marked its 30th anniversary, is a well-known landmark on Albuquerque’s Westside. Its easy accessible trails offer entrée to many petroglyphs etched into the basalt rinconada.
Petroglyphs are rock carvings — as opposed to rock paintings that are called pictographs — that were created by pecking directly on the rock surface using a stone chisel and a hammerstone. When the desert varnish, or patina, on the surface of the rock was chipped off, the lighter rock underneath was exposed, leaving behind the petroglyph.
The national monument is perhaps the most wellknown and most visited of the many petroglyph sites across the state.
But two lesser known sites outside of Albuquerque sitting on Bureau of Land Management real estate also offer interesting arrays of ancient Native American art, some dating to the pre-Columbian era.
La Cieneguilla Petroglyph Site (blm.gov/visit/la-cienequilla-petroglyphs) just south of Santa Fe is a wonderfully accessible and worthwhile place to visit for petroglyph fans.
“It’s a perfect place,” said Allison Sandoval, bureau spokeswoman. “It’s extremely accessible for people. It’s a real easy walk up there. It’s a place we like to direct people to.”
A comfortable, one mile round-trip hike takes visitors past images dating from pre-Columbian through the
Spanish colonial era.
“It’s a distinct trail, pretty easy, not too steep,” Sandoval said. “It’s not a difficult trek up there.”
More than 4,400 recorded petroglyphs are sequestered among the boulders.
“Most of the petroglyphs were placed there by Keresan-speaking puebloan people living in the area between the 13th and 17th centuries,” according to the site’s webpage.
“The area is known for the great number of humpbacked flute player images and a great variety of bird figures,” the site said. Nearly one-third of the images carry a bird motif.
Located just west of the Santa Fe Airport, “it’s just so accessible from Santa Fe and Albuquerque,” Sandoval said. “A lot of folks who haven’t been there might be surprised about that.”
It is believed that members of the Cochiti and Santo Domingo Pueblos are descendents of the artists.
Although many of the petroglyphs at La Cienguilla are within touching range, the best way to preserve them is abiding by a hands-off policy, Sandoval said.
For an overwhelming array of petroglyphs, down south near Tularosa east of White Sands, the Three Rivers Petroglyph Site (blm.gov/visit/three-riverspetroglyph-site) packs a mighty gauntlet of images, Sandoval said.
“There are around 21,000 petroglyphs that date back from roughly 200 to 1450 AD,” she said of the site that covers some 50 acres and has been recognized by the New Mexico Historic Preservation Office. “The number and concentration of the petroglyphs at Three Rivers make this one of the largest and most interesting rock art sites in the Southwest.”
The huge variety of petroglyphs include masks, sunbursts, wildlife, handprints and geometric designs on a ridge climbing above the Tularosa Basin, making for spectacular site as the White Sands gleam across the valley and sacred Sierra Blanca towers to the east.
“The petroglyphs were made by a group of historic Native Americans, known as the Jornada Mogollon,” Sandoval said.
They were one of the three major ancestral cultures that dominated the southwest, with a culture that arose and fell between 200 and 1450 CE. It is believed they are the ancestors of the Zuni and Hopi tribes.
The trail is about two miles long and rises at a slight incline, although it can get rugged at times, while on the east side of the picnic area, a short trail leads to a partially excavated prehistoric village.
Three Rivers is one of the few locations in the Southwest set aside solely because of its rock art. And like La Cieneguilla, it is one of the few sites giving visitors such direct access to petroglyphs.