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SANDAL PRINT IMAGES AS SIGNS OF PERSONAL INDENTITY:
Patterned sandal print, Harper's Ferry Road, Station 17, Dinosaur National Monument, Grand County, Utah. Photograph Peter Faris, June 1989.Numerous sandals were among the many objects Ancestral...
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HISTORIC ROCK ART - A FIGURE FROM DENVER HISTORY COMMEMORATED ON A CLIFF IN...
Sometimes you can go halfway around the world only to run into something that makes you feel at home again.Ship signature cliff, Skagway, Alaska. Internet photograph, Public Domain.Ship signature...
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GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES IN ROCK ART – A WATERFALL PORTRAYAL IN LA PASIEGA CAVE?
Scalariform from La Pasiega Cave, Spain. Illustration from Donsmaps.com.I sometimes wonder if my columns countering some of the silly claims that are made about rock art brand me as mean spirited and...
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ANCIENT ROMAN GRAFFITI WAS INSULTING TOO – POOR SECUNDINUS:
There have been a few times when I desperately wanted to leave obscene graffiti for a boss or co-worker, but I never have. Apparently the ancient Roman soldiers who occupied Vindolanda on Hadrian’s...
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PREHISTORIC COLLECTING:
One aspect of art that I have not seen discussed in relation to rock art is collecting. The whole point of having something as non-utilitarian as art is its possession, or collecting it. In this paper...
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BALLCOURT PETROGLYPHS IN MEXICO MARK SACRIFICE SITES:
On 28 August 2021, I posted a column titled“T-Shaped Doorways, Ballcourts, Pipettes, and the Wind” (Faris 2021) which postulated a relationship between the rock art symbols known as pipettes, Ancestral...
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CLIMATE CHANGE ILLUSTRATED IN ROCK ART/HISTORIC INSCRIPTIONS - HUNGER STONES...
An exposed Hunger Stone inscription. Internet photograph, public domain.There are various implications in climate change that can be seen in rock art, or ways that the changing climate affects rock...
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HOW THE NATURAL 'GLAZES' ON THE WALLS OF KIMBERLEY ROCK SHELTERS HELP REVEAL...
Glaze mineral accretion over painted panel, photograph Cecilia Myers, Green et al.For some time one dream of rock art researchers has been the development of scientific procedures that can directly...
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INSCRIPTIONS - ANCIENT ISRAELI CURSES
On 30 July 2022, I reported on the discovery of the Roman carved stone graffiti from Vindolanda, England, of “Secundinus, the shitter.” Ancient Romans were far from the only people in antiquity who...
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THE SPEDIS OWL ON A BUTTON:
Spedis Owl, The Dalles, Wasco County, Oregon. Photograph J & E Faris, October 1991.Spedis Owl, The Dalles, Wasco County, Oregon. Photograph Peter Faris, 28 July 2000.Spedis Owl near Spearfish...
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THE STEPPED-FRET MOTIF IN SOUTHWESTERN AMERICAN ART AND ROCK ART:
Stepped-Fret illusion, internet image, public domain.One iconic motif in the American Southwest is the Stepped-fret design. “The simplest and also the commonest form of stepped fret comprises a design...
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TURKEYS IN SOUTHWESTERN AMERICAN ROCK ART:
Wild turkey. Internet photograph, public domain.In the rock art of the American west and southwest there are frequent images of birds, and one commonly recognized is the turkey.“Mountain turkeys are a...
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CUEVA DE ARDALES - FAMOUS ROCK ART CAVE IN SPAIN WAS USED BY ANCIENT HUMANS...
Excavations in Cueva de Ardales, Spain. Photograph diariodecadiz.es.Although Cueva de Ardales has been long known and studied for its prehistoric occupation and art it is only with recent dating that...
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FORT MOJAVE TWINS GEOGLYPH ALIGNMENT:
Mojave Twins Geoglyph, Arizona. Internet photograph public domain.Back in August 2022 I received an interesting letter. Lee Knutson wrote of a discovery he had made on Google Earth. Lee discovered...
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ROCK ART AND CLIMATE CHANGE:
Humans live within, and are molded by, their environment, from cultural effects to actual evolutionary traits we are products of the world we live in. This influences every aspect of our lives, from...
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DANIGALA MOUNTAIN’S NEOLITHIC PETROGLYPHS:
Danigala Circular Rock, Sri Lanka. Internet photograph, public domain.Danigala Circular Rock is an inselberg (an isolated mountain rising above a plain) consisting of Precambrian rock in Sri Lanka. A...
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8,000 YEAR OLD DEPICTIONS OF DOMESTIC CANINES:
Leashed dogs and hunter, petroglyphs, Shuwaymis, Saudi Arabia. Internet photograph, public domain.A team of archaeologists from the Max Planck Institute and Saudi Arabian Commission for Tourism and...
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CHRIS MARKES ROCK ART PHOTOGRAPHY - AN EXAMPLE OF REAL ART:
Birthing Rock, Moab, Utah. Photograph Chris Markes.From time to time I receive communications from readers of RockArtBlog who share their work and studies with me. I have even published some of these...
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CACAO IN THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST AND ROCK ART:
One minor, but enjoyable, facet of the study of rock art in the American Southwest is the search for Mesoamerican influences in the imagery. Many examples of large-eyed anthropomorphs, for instance,...
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A NEANDERTAL MYSTERY – THE MASK OF LA ROCHE-COTARD:
Neandertal mask of La Roche-Cotard. Internet photograph public domain.The subject of Neandertal creativity and art is becoming a common topic, indeed, I have written on this in RockArtBlog a number of...
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