I love how the Weekly Photo Challenge works! So often, as I wait on Friday morning to learn what it will be, I’m amazed when that email comes through and I have been working on the perfect shot that very day! I spent this morning processing the HDRI (High Dynamic Range Imaging) photos I took during our recent visit to Sego Canyon near Moab, Utah. This remarkable location contains rock art from three different cultures all in the same group of canyon walls. So what better way to interpret “From Lines to Patterns” than to share some of my shots of this beautiful and ancient creativity!
This photo shows the artwork of the Ute culture believed to be 200-300 years old. This panel contains images of hunters, horses and shields painted on the rock face.
Ute Hunting Scene – Sego Canyon, Utah
This shot shows two cultures colliding on the same wall. The white figures come from the Fremont Culture who inhabited the Utah area from about 700-1300 c.e. Called petroglyphs, these were scratched into the rock. The red figures behind and above them come from the Barrier Canyon Culture. Radiocarbon dating has placed them to have been painted as early as 7000 b.c.e.!
Fremont and Barrier Canyon Figures
Finally, these Barrier Canyon figures stand tall on their own rock panel – pictographs painted by humans (or maybe aliens?) seven to nine thousand years ago. From lines to patterns – ancient cultures left their marks for us to ponder…
Barrier Canyon Figures
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LargeSelf 
Fascinating, Cathy! Maybe it is aliens. Who knows, right? Great shots and color.
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Thanks, Amy! I know, they look so strange and outer-worldly! Or maybe that’s what they saw in their inner world…I fantasize shamans and fire-circles and shape-shifters!
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Nice post !
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Thank you! And thanks for stopping by!
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wow these are amazing!
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Thanks, kz! It was so amazing to see these figures all in one place!
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Great shots Cathy. What I find fascinating is that whatever they used hundreds and thousands of years ago to paint on those canyon walls has not been washed off by the elements through either the centuries or the. I doubt that any paint by Benjamin Moore would last much longer than a decade or two.
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I know! The color is so vibrant and strong! What I also find fascinating is that to my discerning (cough) eye, the 9000-year-old ones are the most sophisticated! What do you think, Miss Film Major?
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I agree Cathy but you know how things degrade over time. Movie storytelling started with intricate canyon wall paintings and descended over the millennia to what we have know: remakes, sequels and knock offs of mediocre TV series. I would not be surprised if Hollywood has a film version of “Dancing with the Stars” in development.
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Yes! Where nothing is left to the imagination. Conversely, these wall paintings leave everything to the imagination!
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AMAZING! I love petroglyphs! They never cease to amazing me! Thank you for sharing these great shots!
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Thanks, Ashley! Me too! I was with my sister and husband on this trip and we all three love pictographs and petroglyphs. There’s something almost magical about them. We spent quite a bit of time seeking them out on this recent trip, and Sego Canyon was a new site to us. We had never been there before. It IS amazing!
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Wonderful and the black frame is perfect!
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Thank you, Kathryn! I think maybe I telepathed the challenge to WP and they cooperated! 🙂
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You DID ! : )))))
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Oh, to be able to be a time-traveling fly on the wall, just to see how those cultures lived and thrived. As long as we wouldn’t get squished during their drawing…
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I know, Carrie! They certainly spark the imagination, don’t they! The ones from the Ute culture are pretty clear, I think, but to understand the meaning of the older ones would be great! And you’re right, one would not want to get squished or painted red! Imagine how hard it would be to get off, since it’s lasted on this rock wall for 9000 years! 🙂
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Haha, yes. 🙂
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Awesome pictures Cathy! I love to think about the message they were sending. Sharing their lives with whomever came upon their story… seven to nine thousand years later. (?!?What?!?)
Thank you for sharing it with us.
I can’t wait to visit there myself and see them in person. I bet the energy is amazing!
Much Love!
XOXO
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I know! The age of these things boggles the mind! The energy is amazing in this place. And our modern indigenous people view these places as sacred. Very special indeed!
Hugs,
Cathy
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[…] Weekly Photo Challenge – From Lines to Patterns « LargeSelf […]
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And on Fridays I wait and wonder how you will interpret the theme. These are fabulous! I spent one College summer in northern New York state working on an archeological dig. It was fascinating. Any idea what those cultures used to create the red figures? I am amazed that they have survived all that time.
One of these days, I really have to take a trip out west. Thanks so much for sharing your adventures, Cathy.
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Thanks, Mary! One site I found says that the paint was made with red ochre or iron oxide and no one has been able to determine the binding agent – although it is believed to be organic. This is the third Barrier Canyon site I’ve visited (I’ve been to Barrier Canyon – also called Horseshoe Canyon!) and it always amazes me at how vibrant the colors are in these figures. They were certainly great painters!
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As always, gorgeous! These are fascinating… just beautiful, Cathy.
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Thank you so much, Dawn! Honestly, I was very excited about these – interesting, amazing aesthetics, mysterious! What more could you want? One thing that was very interesting about the middle picture is that the red figures were actually hard to see with the naked eye. I could tell that there was red paint and something on the wall there, but only after I processed the three exposure bracketed shots in my HDRI software did they really show up. And they’re beautiful! What a nice surprise. I was definitely glad I had my tripod with me and took the time to bracket the shots! Thanks, as always Dawn, for taking a look.
Hugs,
Cathy
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Love your photography Cathy… and the cool journey that goes with it.
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So interesting and informative. Great images. Love the Moab area.
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Thank you, Mithriluna! I love the area too!
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Awesome Cathy. The people DO look like aliens and it’s amazing how long those pictures have survived thousands of years.
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Thanks, Mary! Maybe it helps that it’s a desert environment, but it’s still amazing!
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[…] Weekly Photo Challenge – From Lines to Patterns « LargeSelf […]
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[…] Weekly Photo Challenge – From Lines to Patterns « LargeSelf […]
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Oooh, neato. That last one is definitely aliens. I think I recognize some of them, actually. 🙂
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Yeah, I was thinking I recognized the guy with the curly antennae myself, Jennifer! I think I remember him stepping off the spaceship with lightning bolts coming off his shoulders. Ornery cuss!
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[…] Weekly Photo Challenge – From Lines to Patterns « LargeSelf […]
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Late to this, Cathy but you know how I feel about your luscious photos. They always tell a story and this time, a very ancient one. I am amazed how these have survived! I do think the last one looks as if they were drawing aliens or as you said, maybe they were aliens doing self-portraits. Or maybe they were having a big ole’ costume party. Or maybe they were wearing big glasses. Or sunglasses. HA!
I’m rambling. Love your beautiful pics!
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Your comments are ALWAYS welcome here anytime, Brigitte! This made laugh. I know! What were they thinking! 🙂 It looks like a big ole costume party to me, too. I bet it was really fun.
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I grew up in the desert southwest and have seen pictographs and petroglyphs in several locations. I’ve always found them absolutely fascinating. You’ve captured them beautifully in these photos.
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Thanks so much, Lee. I shot these in HDRI and I’m glad I did. It really brought out more details that way. Like you, I love the rock art in the southwest. It’s fascinating and intriguing.
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mind-boggling…love the colors and the figures looks so “modern” as in illustrations for science fiction creatures!
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Thanks, Georgia! I know! I think they look really modern too! To imagine they were painted 9000 years ago! Hard to believe, isn’t it?
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Exactly…just so fantastic! 🙂
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The paintings from 7000-9000 BCE are mind blowing. It’s so hard to wrap my head around the idea of people from that long ago.
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Me too! These rock paintings are so surreal and well executed. Great artwork! And I know! 9000 years ago! You would like the energy there, too, Weebs…powerful and special.
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What beautiful images.
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I was very proud of these. I took my time and used a tripod. They’re so unusual and special. Thanks so much!
Cathy
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