Posted inAcademics Featured North America

Bird Petroglyphs at Three Rivers

This paper offers a selection of bird petroglyphs recorded at Three Rivers, the largest rock art site in the Mogollon Territory of southern New Mexico, North America. In this paper I discuss the several, often enigmatic representations of various birds at Three Rivers and I attempt at offering hopefully acceptable interpretations. In my opinion, birds (also at Three Rivers) functioned as messengers to the ancestors and deities that reside in the Upper Realm, and/or birds symbolised fertility, especially when associated with the Cloud Terrace.

By Maarten van Hoek

Posted inAcademics Featured North America South America

Symbols on Top of a Pole in Rock Art

This paper describes specific petroglyphs recorded at sites in Peru (South America) and sites in New Mexico (North America). It concerns images of symbols that are found at the top of a vertically held pole. The symbol may be an object, a biomorph or an abstract pattern. The three areas that are being discussed have different types of images. For instance, poles with birds on top are most frequent at sites in Peru, while examples in New Mexico have poles often carried by biomorphs (absent in Peru). A careful attempt will be made to interpret the symbol-on-poles configuration.

By Maarten van Hoek

Posted inAcademics Featured North America South America

The “Severed Limb” in the Rock Art of New Mexico

This paper describes several petroglyphs recorded at a few sites in New Mexico, Northern America, that represent isolated feet, legs, hands and arms, suggesting that those body parts had been violently severed from the human body, or – in some instances – from an animal body. There is no informed knowledge available and therefore the paper will only offer a possible explanation by comparing the severed body parts with imagery found at the Slaughter House at Cerro Sechín, an important ancient temple complex very near the Pacific Coast in northern Peru, and with some petroglyphs at Palamenco, not far from Cerro Sechín.

By Maarten van Hoek