FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[benchambers]

I stumbled upon some petroglyphs while on a hike. I figured I'd share them with you on the forum (mineral art seemed like a fitting category). This is in the Imperial Wildlife Refuge at a spot that overlooks a lake and the Colorado River, La Paz County, AZ, USA. I'm guessing they were of Mojave origin, who knows how old. Maybe you can decipher them.

[trtlman]

There are many different tribes that lived in Colorado but I would guess, based on my research, this is from the Ute Indians since they are the only indigenous tribe of Colorado but I can't be sure someone else did not draw them. For the age of these I can not say. These are really cool and thanks for sharing them.

[mmauthner]

These appear rather similar to those at the Painted Rock State Park petroglyph site just north of highway 8 near Gila Bend (just west of). The attached photo is of an example of the "Gila Style" petroglyphs at the State Park, which is similar to what you have posted...at least to my eye (I am not an archeologist or anthropologist). Earlier "Western Archaic" style is also represented at the state park site.

[benchambers]

So I think they are probably Quechan- In south AZ (near the Colorado River). Most of them look authentic to my eye because most have started to 're-patina' over the scratches.

[benchambers]

Here's a cool site I found while trying to figure out what petroglyphs mean:
https://saber.net/bernal/petroglyphs/imgMap/petroMean.html
(link normalized by FMF)

I mean, a lot of them could just be doodles but some have a reason I'm sure.

Anyway thanks for checkin' em out.

[Dehne]