Signs of the Past

Signs of the Past. . , Expressions on Stone , Rock images are found throughout the world. To modern scholars, they are cultural clues to the past and reveal how people expressed their ideas., For contemporary Native People, they are powerful symbols that hold profound spiritual significance. The placement of each image was not a casual or random decision., Although the meaning may no longer be known, it is to be respected for belonging to those from the past., Images on Rock , Petroglyphs (rock carvings) and pictographs (rock paintings) are the two types of images found in Red Rock Canyon., Petroglyphs , Rock carvings are images pecked or incised into the rock surface., Pecked images were made with a hammerstone of harder rock. Incised (cut or scratched) designs were carved with sharp-edged stones., Pictographs , These designs were painted onto the surface of the rock., Paints were made by mixing ground-up minerals, clays, or charcoal with a liquid binder such as plant juices, saliva, or egg whites., Desert Varnish , The Patina of Time, After thousands of years in the desert sun, rock surfaces may develop a reddish-brown or blackish-blue coating known as desert varnish (patina). , This thin, paint-like layer is a dense build up of oxidized minerals, clay, and dust., Petroglyphs pecked into desert varnish reveal the lighter colored stone beneath them. , These images may last of thousands of years., Leave What You Find; these ancient and fragile markings remind us of the past. Please do not touch.