45-2 A New Basketmaker II Petroglyph Site in Southern Utah: a Possible Record of Anasazi Ritual Traditions Recorded by Multiple Generations of Indigenous Artists

Session: Geoarchaeology

Presenting Author:

Authors:

Abstract:

During geologic investigation near Orderville, Utah, researchers discovered a large (5 m x 2 m) oxidized sandstone face displaying pecked and incised figures and symbols consistent with the Basketmaker II period (~ 1000 B.C. – ~500 A.D.). The site, at 1860 m elevation, is adjacent to tall cliffs to the east and is challenging to reach from the well-vegetated Virgin River floodplain, 1.6 km away.

On site, the team captured photos and drone-based video of the south-facing rock and later used this imagery to document a wide range of animal, plant, human, and abstract geometric shapes carved into the cross-bedded Jurassic Navajo Sandstone. Individual carvings are commonly tightly clustered, with some figures that overlap. The pre-historic artists used cross-beds as part of their artwork, with incisions that follow cross-bed partings, and all pre-historic carvings, from 0.5 – 1.5 cm depth in the rock, match the color of the red, oxidized sandstone. Recent historic carvings on the same face are bright white, in stark contrast to the Anasazi artwork.

Although Basketmaker II rock art is most commonly painted, nearby Basketmaker II sites in Kane County, Utah, display strikingly similar figures and symbols that are shallowly carved or pecked into desert varnish. We suggest that this new site should be classified as part of the same Basketmaker II cultural tradition and time as other sites across the region.

Motivations for the creation of petroglyphs are difficult to discern, but we can eliminate several possibilities. The study site is not near a water source, is not a good shelter location, is not well located for any well-traveled path, and no type of farming or harvesting would take place on the bare rock surrounding the site.

With these possibilities eliminated, we posit a shamanistic or ritual motivation for the Anasazi creation of these petroglyphs. Additionally, the crowded and overlapping nature of many carvings suggests a long period of time may have passed between creation of individual artwork, possibly related to the removal of the oxidized surface during the carving process; new incision or pecking appears as bright white, contrasting with older, oxidized and less visible artwork. Thus, we consider this a possible example of a multigenerational petroglyph site that may have been motivated by Anasazi sacred rites.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program. Vol. 57, No. 6, 2025

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-6740

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