It's been called The World's Longest Art Galley. Nine Mile Canyon cuts through the Book Cliffs Region and West Tavaputs Plateau of Eastern Utah, and the rock art it contains is intriguing and mysterious.
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| The Great Hunt. |
My curiosity is piqued when viewing The Great Hunt Panel. Who carved this? How long did it take? Was this done just to pass the time, or to convey information to passers-by? Is the figure between the sheep at the top of the panel a "god of the hunt"? Why is the hunter on the right—with bow and arrow—much larger than the hunters to the left and below him? A Dad and his sons hunting together perhaps? Why does a figure appear to be walking away from the hunt (lower right), and one of the sheep appear to be falling from the group?
Part of the mystery of rock art is that we'll never know the answers to these questions. The Fremont Indians who carved these figures lived in the canyon from 900 to 1200 A.D and then disappeared.
For one thousand years though, their outdoor artwork has endured.
Consider the panels below. In the first one a giant bison-like animal appears alongside smaller animals and a person or two. In the second one, people and animals are scattered about. And why is one person lying on his side? What are the scribblings between the two people and the animal in the center-right of the drawing? Are some of these chiselings just a type of ancient graffiti? Or could it be that the Fremont peoples continued to add to these al fresco drawings throughout their tenure in the canyon? More intrigue, more mystery.
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| Apparently, large buffalo used to live here. They were all exterminated by the European settlers. |
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| A lot of incongruous activity is going on in this scene. |
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| Picnic area under the shade of Cottonwood trees. |
When visiting Nine Mile Canyon during the spring, summer or fall, bring along a picnic lunch and relax for awhile. The shaded picnic area provides the perfect spot for pondering the fascinating works within The World's Longest Art Gallery.
4 comments:
Looks like a truly magnificent place to visit, Rita.
You raised some interesting questions, probably many of which can never be answered with any high-level of certainty. Regardless, let’s hope and pray that this artwork from the past will endure for others to enjoy for many centuries to come, and that it will not be damaged/destroyed by modern-day human activity.
John
This is an amazing story Rita, and only those who actually see such rock paintings and carvings can truly appreciate them, wondering about why some figures are depicted in a particular way ...
There also thousands of rock art sites in India as well, Rita and some of the more well known sites such as Bhimbetka are many thousands of years old!
It is a magnificent place, John, and it's only 30-45 minutes from my house. I don't go there often enough.
As for modern-day human activity there is mining in the canyon which has damaged some of the rock art panels with dust, etc. Supposedly the mining company has taken steps to mitigate this damage. I sure hope so.
Thanks for commenting!
It's true that rock art is so much more meaningful when viewed in person.
I looked up the rock art of Bhimbetka —truly amazing, and up to 30,000 years old! I was happy to see that Bhimbetka is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is being protected.
Thanks for reading, Soumyendu!
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