Petroglyph National Monument

After leaving the Roswell area, we headed for Albuquerque for the night. As we approached our campground for the night, we saw signs for Petroglyph National Monument. Since we’d allowed 4 hours to explore Albuquerque, we decided that this would be the perfect place to spend our time. So after we’d packed up the next morning, we followed the signs and went exploring at Petroglyph National Monument.


The petroglyphs were made by ancient Indians, most likely Pueblo people, by chipping away at the volcanic rocks’ thin desert varnish to reveal the lighter gray beneath. While many symbols and animals are represented in these images, the actual meanings are lost with the people who carved them. I’m including a few images here and, if you’re interested, you can check more of them out at our Petroglyph National Monument album: http://picasaweb.google.com/debdistante/PetroglyphNationalMonument. All petroglyphs here are from the Boca Negra Canyon Trail.



These petroglyphs are clearly parrots or macaws. It is believed that these were valuable trade items, brought up from central America. Notice that the lower bird appears to be in a cage here.


There are many mask symbols, of which I believe this is one. Again, no one quite knows the meaning behind what these masks were used to represent.

Here, Matt and Seamus pose in front one of the petroglyphs, this one a human-like figure. We were careful to obey the rules and not touch any of the petroglyphs, because the oils in our hands can destroy them.

There are a number of 4-legged animals represented, such as this catlike drawing. Although it does appear to have a rather fierce mouth, so I’m not sure it would have been a domesticated type animal.

This is a yucca seed. It’s found in the same area as the macaw drawings are.