Buckhorn Wash Pictographs, Utah

The San Rafael Swell of central Utah houses one of the largest concentrations of ancient rock art of any place in the world. Human-like figures from long ago dance on alcove walls. Paintings of small birds - hummingbirds perhaps? - "fly" over their heads. Images of Bighorn Sheep, Pronghorn, coyotes, and domestic dogs accompany the painted humans in their timeless vigil.

One of the Swell's most easily-accessible sites is also one of its most magnificent - Buckhorn Wash.

The main set of pictographs (rock paintings) at Buckhorn Wash depict humans and humanoids in the Barrier Canyon Style - similar to the art I wrote about at Sego Canyon. To me, most of the figures seem to be a hybrid between the older Barrier Canyon Style and the relatively more recent Fremont Style, but this could simply be stylistic differences beween artists and tribes living at a similar time. Until archaeologists are able to definitively date these panels, my view is just speculation.

The entire panel takes up about 130 feet of the cliff face in the Wash. In one portion of the Buckhorn panel - the most famous part - human figures sporting something like wings or fringed clothing hold their arms out. Are they trying to fly? Are they dancing? We just don't know. 

Viewers coming here with a Christian mindset may see "angels" even though these paintings were likely completed centuries before the birth of Jesus. Other folks see the work of "shamans" or the illustrations of visions or psychedelic experiences (usually, they say, the result of hallucinogenic substances). Still others are convinced this art is proof of space aliens. Why are we so keen on attributing this art to shamanism, drug usage, supernatural beings, angels, or aliens? 

Well, I think it's because we're trying to view this art through the filter of our own, very modern viewpoints and experiences. Let's give these Ancients some credit and try to see things from their perspective for a change.

Take a walk through a few modern-day art galleries and note what you find - my guess is you'll see a huge variety of work by some very creative artists. Some artists record what they see or experience in their daily life. Some depict their sleeping dreams, others, psychedelic experiences. Still others incorporate political commentary in their art, while some might depict their religious beliefs. Some artists paint their families or pets or flowers or the animals they see every day and others work from and depict emotion and intuitive insights. 

We don't walk through a modern gallery and assume most of the work we see is the result of drug use or religious beliefs. Perhaps some are, but most aren't. Why then would we view the works of the Ancients any differently? They were humans just like us. They were individuals who were creative and intelligent (if you don't believe me, you try to spend even a season living off the land in Utah). And they probably  had many different reasons for creating art on rock, most of it we may never understand.

It's OK to never understand - yet we persist in trying to mold what we see into something identifiable in our world. Or we try to shape it to fit into our individual beliefs and prejudices. If this describes you, stop for a minute and just appreciate this ancient art for what it is - ancient art. Allow it to retain its mystery.

Some of us may still view the Ancients through the filter of modern American (Caucasian) culture where there persists unrealistic, entrenched views of Native Americans either being inferior or else living in some completely idyllic, Utopian harmony with Nature and the Creator. The truth is probably far from either of those beliefs. The Ancient "Americans" were people, like you and me, intelligent and creative, full of hopes and dreams and faults, trying to live their lives well but sometimes making mistakes. Sometimes life was easy, sometimes difficult. They learned and played and loved and passed on their knowledge and beliefs to the next generation - through stories and perhaps through art on rock.

Perhaps a Spirit world was very important to them and these images pay homage to this. Or maybe these paintings tell tales of individuals in the tribe, their travels, exploits, and meetings with other clans. Maybe these images record people in families or generations of families - like a modern day family tree. Perhaps they are the result of hopes or dreams or visions. Or maybe they illustrate stories of heroes and villians, hunting expeditions, or lovers and enemies. Or are they they work of ancient "graffiti artists" - young men and women who just wanted to make their presence known by painting on the cliffs?

We'll likely never know, and that's OK. I like a bit of mystery in my life.