Barrier Canyon Style
Ancient Pictographs & Petroglyphs,
O.G. Emojis, in Utah

Those of you who have followed my adventures may remember my becoming semi-obsessed with petroglyphs on my trip to New Mexico a couple of years back.  With this area’s ancient history vivid on the surrounding walls, I would rekindle this love and seize the opportunity to find and document these communications.  They are considered Barrier Canyon Style–mostly pictographs (painted on) and not petroglyphs (pecked into the rock) between 1500 to 4000 years old.  I was pleased to see that the Park Service has set guidelines for visitors (written in an entertaining fashion) of these spaces, within or adjacent to their jurisdiction.

Because there is no way to definitely determine what is being conveyed in these pictographs, it is widely accepted that they identified territories, guided foragers, and displayed various customs.  But I am more fixated on the mystery and wonder, how we can’t ever really know.  In this view, they are interpretative, like art. So here: A Gallery of Ancient Art in Moab from thousands of years ago.

This panel is called Birthing Scene. The best is the proud papa’s expression.

If you want to look for these yourself, this is a compilation is from Courthouse Wash and Moonflower Canyon. In Moab. But my goodness, you can find them all over the canyons if you are looking for them.