This short paper describes the petroglyphs of Panel 7 at the Sand Dune site west of Bluff, southern Utah. It mainly focusses on one specific petroglyph that is ladder-shaped. It may well be a unique image for the area; only one possible parallel will be discussed.
By Maarten van Hoek
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The “Ladder-Design”
and other Petroglyphs at Panel 7 of the Sand Dune Site, Utah
Maarten van Hoek
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Introduction
Utah is one of the many areas in North America with an enormous amount of rock art sites and rock art images. All sorts of images have been painted as pictographs onto the rock surfaces in Utah, or have been carved out as petroglyphs. Discussing Utah rock art, Kenneth Castleton describes and illustrates numerous rock art images that he published in two extensive and informative volumes (1984, 1987). Yet, no doubt many more sites have since then been added to the long list of rock art sites in (not only) Utah. One of the sites that Castleton describes is Bluff-2, which is called the Sand Dune site in this study (see Note 1). Unfortunately this extensive site (Figures 1 and 2) was only covered by him with one paragraph and one illustration (1987: 209; Fig. 7.20). However, the rock art at the Sand Dune site extends almost the whole length of a 500 meters long, impressive vertical cliff-face, which faces SW. The complex is divided in at least ten decorated panels (see Note 1), with an estimated average height of 60 m.
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The Location of the Sand Dune Site
The site is found in the extreme south of Utah, SW North America, in a rather dry, desert-like landscape with only little vegetation (grasses and low bushes). The rapid San Juan River – which is invisible from the site – flows to the west and is found about 2.5 km to the south of Panel 7 at the Sand Dune site, (the base of which is estimated by me to be at 1400 m O.D.). WSW-facing Panel 7 at the west end of the site (Figure 1) is located about 3 km west of the prominent Twin-Tower rock formation (which looks like a kissing couple when observed from one angle) just to the north of the village of Bluff.
Figure 1. The Sand Dune site west of Bluff, Utah, looking north. Only Panels #1 and #7 are indicated. The yellowish sand dune is clearly visible. Photograph © by Maarten van Hoek.
The arbitrary numbering of the panels in this study is based only on our observations in the field, while surveying the site in a morning of July 2005 (unfortunately experiencing unfavourable light for photography at most panels [therefore, all photos in this study have been digitally enhanced by me]). The positions of the two most important panels (1 and 7) are only roughly indicated in Figure 2 (we never used anything like GPS), see also Note 1 at the end of this paper.
Figure 2. The location of the Sand Dune site in southern Utah. Only Panels 1 and 7 (roughly 400 m apart) – mentioned in this study – are marked. The site is also very approximately marked by a yellow dot in the inset-map of North America. Maps © by Maarten van Hoek, based on Google Earth and (inset) on the map © by OpenStreetMap – Contributors.
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The Imagery of the Sand Dune Site
Among the numerous petroglyphs at the Sand Dune site are groups of small cupules (some in straight, horizontal lines), large and deep anthropic holes (called “Atypical Cupules” by me) and oblong polissoir (both lengthily discussed by me: Van Hoek 2007), abstract motifs and symbolic designs (like the “Lobed Circle” motif, which may – in my opinion – symbolise a “Trophy” Head [for a full explanation see Van Hoek 2023: 25 – 30; Figs 19 – 22]), phytomorphic designs, zoomorphic images (also involving a few animal tracks; even including two rare rabbit-tracks) and many anthropomorphic figures (including isolated human hand- and foot prints). One specific petroglyph – the “Ladder Design” on Panel 7 – is the main subject of this study.
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The Imagery of Panel 7
Although Panel 1 has the majority of the petroglyphs at this site (among many others an archer hunting a quadruped, “Flute-Players” and the possibly unique “Female Exposing Breasts”, executed in bass-relief [fully discussed in Van Hoek 2026]), Panel 7 also has several interesting images (Figure 3). Besides the “standard” imagery of (mainly simple) quadrupeds, rather small anthropomorphs and many “abstract” designs, like rings, pecked discs and other often hard to classify petroglyphs, there are some images that deserve more attention.
Figure 3. Panel 7 at the Sand Dune site, Utah. Photograph © by Maarten van Hoek.
Immediately to the right of the “Ladder Design” is a fully pecked, frontally depicted anthropomorph positioned in a rather unusual stance. It has its left arm “impossibly” curved all around the head, as if “saluting” (#1 in Figures 3 and 4A). However, the figure may well express a (ritual?) dance. Remarkably, its hands (with splayed fingers) are larger than its small, fully pecked, circular head. At the Sand Dune site there are two more anthropomorphic figures – both recorded at Panel 1 – featuring the same “saluting” stance (one being a match-stick figure). More information about the “Saluting Figure” in North- and South American rock art is available in Van Hoek 2018).
Further to the left on Panel 7 is another fully pecked, frontally depicted anthropomorphic figure (#2 in Figure 3) that has large feet with clearly incised toes (Figure 4B). To the right of the “Ladder Design” is a large pecked “butterfly-shaped” area that may depict an anthropomorph holding or wearing an outspread hide or mantle (#4 in Figures 3 and 6).
Figure 4. A: The “Saluting Figure” and B: the anthropomorph with incised toes on Panel 7 at the Sand Dune site, Utah. Photographs © by Maarten van Hoek.
Also remarkable on Panel 7 is the arrangement of the two “Twin Flute-Players” that are apparently sitting back-to-back (#3 in Figure 5; see also Figure 7B for an isolated example of a sitting “Flute-Player”). The ensemble is located rather high up the panel in a possibly intentional isolated location (see Figure 3 for location). As far as I know, the configuration of the two separated, back-to-back “sitting” “Twin Flute-Players” on Panel 7 has only very few parallels in SW rock art (see for instance Slifer and Duffield 1994: Figs 113; A-101). Interestingly “Twin Flute-Players” – joined back-to-back like Siamese Twins – also occur in SW rock art (see Van Hoek 2020: Fig. 92; Slifer and Duffield 1994: 81; A-129). But in my opinion not all proposed “sitting” back-to-back figures depict “Flute-Players”, like the couple illustrated by Slifer and Duffield (1994: Fig. 96). Those two figures may equally symbolise a shamanic nose-bleed, their “hands” touching their faces (noses?), while apparently not holding a wind instrument.
Figure 5. The “Twin Flute-Players” on Panel 7. Photograph © by Maarten van Hoek.
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The “Ladder Design” at Panel 7
Most unusual on Panel 7 however is a long “Ladder Design” (#5 in Figure 3; Figure 6). Unfortunately we could not take measurements, but I tentatively estimate the design to measure between 1,5 and 2 meters in height. The design is composed of two long, slightly upwards tapering vertical lines and six or seven short horizontal lines (the seventh, uppermost line is slightly curved) that seem to be supported by circular “knobs” just below the horizontal lines that all extend for a short bit beyond the “Ladder” at both sides. They may represent the steps of the “ladder”. As far as I could check, the “Ladder Design” on Panel 7 is not paralleled anywhere in SW rock art. Yet, there is at least one petroglyph that might be related.
Figure 6. The “Ladder Design” on Panel 7. Photograph and drawing © by Maarten van Hoek.
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Parallels
At first I thought to have recognised a “similar” design on a panel at Shay Canyon, an extensive petroglyph site much further north in Utah. However, some anthropic vertical lines are only seemingly joined by shorter, faint horizontal “lines” that – on closer inspection – proved to be natural features (Figure 7A).
The only possible candidate that I now know of is a petroglyph illustrated by Steven James Manning (1992: Fig. 17). He recorded the images at an otherwise undisclosed site, somewhere “along the San Juan River south of Bluff”. However, Manning argues that the “Ladder Design” (not his label) in his drawing represents a female anthropomorph, only the lower portion of which has apparently been drawn by the ancient manufacturer (Figure 7B). He moreover remarks that the design is hard to discern “because of erosion” (should this read: weathering?) and superimposition. In addition, according to Manning the female pubic area is evident as a circle with multiple lines “attached to the bottom” (the bottom of what; the lowermost horizontal line?). However, there is no circle visible in his drawing at that very spot, and moreover, his text does not match his illustration.
Figure 7. A: The panel at Shay Canyon, Utah (note the “mastodon” to the left). B: Petroglyphs at an undisclosed site near Bluff, Utah. Photograph and drawing © by Maarten van Hoek; the drawing is based on the B&W illustration by Steven James Manning (1992: Fig. 17).
Therefore, I argue that the petroglyph is better interpreted as a possible (unfinished?) “Ladder Design”. The main reason is that there are three horizontal lines, and that the left-hand vertical line extents upwards for a short bit. I cannot recall to have seen an anthropomorphic figure in San Juan Anthropomorphic Style – whether female or male – in which three horizontal bodylines have been drawn like this (but still it may be an unfinished anthropomorphic figure).
Also Manning’s reading of the element allegedly depicting the “female pubic area” is – in my opinion – doubtful (it is a matter of interpretation, moreover based on images on a much weathered panel). The purported pubic area could even be a later addition, signifying something entirely different. This also concerns the small foot-like (or is it a hand?) appendage to the lower end of the left-hand vertical line (feet in San Juan Anthropomorphic Style are usually large and clearly drooping, like in the incomplete male figure on the panel). The “additions” and/or “deformations” of the right-hand vertical line (a row of circles according to Manning) are not explained by Manning in his suggested female-context (nor can I).
In and directly around the “Ladder Design” are some images that may have been superimposed by or upon the “Ladder Design” (it is often very hard to tell which sequence it concerns). Yet, they may possibly be associated with the “Ladder Design”. To start with, near the top is a fully pecked area (a zoomorph [?] with possibly two thick legs) joined to the “Ladder Design” that might be a biomorph. A bit lower (and not attached to the “Ladder Design”) is the “Saluting Figure”, which – in my opinion – is not associated.
Between the lowest step and the next is an anthropomorphic figure that is superimposed (?) by the “Ladder Design”. Therefore, it probably is (much?) earlier, and thus it is unlikely that it has any association with the “Ladder Design”. The lowest step also seems to superimpose two possible “backpackers” (similar figures have also been recorded at – for instance – Comb Ridge north of the San Juan River, and at Behind the Rocks near Moab, both in Utah (Slifer 2007: Fig. 3.42). To the right of the “Ladder Design” is the large fully pecked area, possibly depicting (a figure with) a mantle or an outspread hide that – again – probably is not related. Based on my observations I suggest that all the directly surrounding images are not associated, and – in view of the possible superimpositions – that the “Ladder Design” probably is a later addition to the panel.
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Conclusions
The Sand Dune site near Bluff, Utah, has several panels with both “standard” as well as distinguishing images, (like the tracks of a rabbit on Panel 9). Also Panel 7 houses a number of idiosyncratic images that all seem to be unconnected, except for the two “Twin Flute-Players”, of course. This does not mean that the other individual images are not associated; the connections may exist, but are intangible and invisible for us, western-minded observers.
This conclusion also goes for the still enigmatic “Ladder Design”, which is unique for the Sand Dune Site and possibly also for the region housing the San Juan River Anthropomorphic Style (and for the area beyond as well?). Although it looks like a ladder (and possibly ladders and/or ropes once were used by ancient manufacturers of rock art to reach high-up spots on the steep cliff walls), it is most likely not a real ladder. Also the fact that – so far – only one other (incomplete and doubtful) parallel (Figure 7B) has been recorded in an area larded with steep and high sandstone cliffs, makes my interpretation rather improbable. If true ladders had ritual and/or religious significance, images of ladders would have been more frequently occurring in the San Juan Drainage and more widespread across the SW.
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Note 1: About Panel Numbering and Site Names
Panels recorded by my wife Elles and me at the Sand Dune site in 2005 have arbitrarily been assigned a number (1 to 10) by me, from east (Panel 1) to extreme west (Panel 7; Panels 8, 9 and 10 are found between Panel 4 and 7), but of course my numbering is subjective. Other researchers may have used a different labelling (like I as well have done earlier; see my video about the Sand Dune site on YouTube).
Rock art sites are often known by different names. In this study I prefer to refer to the site featuring the “Ladder Design” as the Sand Dune site, because I used the name “Sand Dune site” in one of my earlier papers. Also in a more recent paper about a unique female figure I used the name Sand Dune site (Van Hoek 2026).
Moreover, locally the site is best known as the Sand Dune site (pers. comm. Duke Hayduk, Bluff – 2005), because the cliff-site directly overlooks a large sand dune (see Figure 1). Thus the local name also proves to be most appropriate. Possibly also for that reason Carol Patterson labels the site “Sand Dune” (2018: Fig. 34). However, Kenneth Castleton calls the site Bluff-2, which is confusing, as it is not the same site mentioned Bluff-2 by Dennis Slifer (2000: 66), which is found to the east of the village of Bluff. Finally, Christine Oravec calls the Sand Dune site “Tank Mesa” (2014: 52; Fig. 41). It is uncertain however, whether Oravec is correct in this matter, because she also makes a mistake regarding her Fig. 27, said by her to be at Butler Wash, but in fact it involves a petroglyph on Panel 1 of the Sand Dune site.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Duke Hayduk from Bluff for assistance at the Sand Dune site, and to Vaughn Hadenfelt – also from Bluff – firstly for informing us about the Sand Dune site and secondly for offering us a complimentary shuttle-service to and from the site. Last, but certainly not least, I thank my wife Elles who assisted me during our surveys at the Sand Dune site, Sand Island, Butler Wash and River House Ruin; all rock art sites “near” Bluff (and many other sites in Utah and others elsewhere worldwide), while she continues to support me at home.
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References
Castleton, K. B. 1984. Petroglyphs and Pictographs of Utah. Volume One: The East and Northeast. Utah Museum of Natural History, Salt Lake City.
Castleton, K. B. 1987. Petroglyphs and Pictographs of Utah. Volume Two: The South, Central, West and Northwest. Utah Museum of Natural History, Salt Lake City.
Manning, S. J. 1992. The Lobed-Circle image in the Basketmaker petroglyphs of southeastern Utah. Utah Archaeology. Vol. 5-1; pp. 1 – 38. Eds: Joel C. Janetski and Robert B. Kohl.
Oravec, C. 2014. Yuccas, butterflies, and flute players: the significance of San Juan Basketmaker rock art in the flower image complex. Utah Rock Art. Vol. XXXIII; pp 15 – 71.
Patterson, C. 2018. Cultural Affiliations of the Western Basketmaker II Style. Petroglyphs of American Southwest. Urraca Archaeological Services. Montrose, CO.
Slifer, D. 2000. Guide to Rock Art of the Utah Region. Sites with Public Access. Ancient City Press, Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Slifer, D. 2007. Kokopelli. The magic, mirth, and mischief of an ancient symbol. Gibbs Smith, Publishers. Salt Lake City.
Slifer, D. and J. Duffield. 1994. Kokopelli. Flute player images in rock art. Ancient City Press. Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Van Hoek, M. 2007. Atypical cupules at two rock art sites in Southeastern Utah. American Indian Rock Art. Vol. 33; pp. 105 – 116. American Rock Art Research Association. Don D. Christensen and Peggy Whitehead, Editors.
Van Hoek, M. 2013. My video about the Sand Dune Site, Utah, on YouTube.
Van Hoek, M. 2018. The Saluting Anthropomorph in the Rock Art of the Americas. In: TRACCE – Online Rock Art Bulletin, Italy.
Van Hoek, M. 2020. The Book of Janus. Polycephalic Creatures in Rock Art. Oisterwijk, Holland. Book only available as PDFva-007 at DropBox.
Van Hoek. M. 2023.”Trophy” Heads in the Rock Art of North and South America“. Private publication, Oisterwijk, the Netherlands. Book available as PDF-18 at DropBox, also at Academia.
Van Hoek. M. 2026. The Female Exposing Breasts. Sand Dune Petroglyph Site, Utah. In: TRACCE – Online Rock Art Bulletin. Italy. PDF available at Academia.
