I want to share some of my photos from a favorite spot on our trip last month. The Petroglyph National Monument is located just to the west of Albuquerque, NM. The site contains an estimated 23000 images carved by native Pueblo peoples and early Spanish settlers. It was truly amazing to see so many petroglyphs in one area.
Mesa Point Trail climbs up the mesa (click on any image to enlarge)
There are three short trails in Boca Negra Canyon, and we took them all. The Mesa Point Trail was short, but went straight up a mesa – with lots of petroglyphs along the way.
humanoid and animal figures
The monument had great signage.
one of many explanatory signs
While many images were instantly recognizable, some were less obvious.
bird figure
humpbacked flute player (Kokopelli)
Some of the figures were especially hard to interpret. Like the one in the below photo that looked for all the world like a big rodent holding a tennis racket!
tennis, anyone?
birds, headdress, star
masked figure
view down the trail
snake figure
bird, with smiley face?
Macaws are not native to NM, so perhaps they were traded
family with pet?
yucca pods were food source
‘star person’ with headdress
We really enjoyed our visit to see the petroglyphs, and I hope you enjoyed the photos.