Apishapa Rock Art and Soul Capture

Summary

Rather than a western extension of the Plains Village tradition, the Apishapa phase was more likely an eastern extension of the Great Basin Desert culture. Among other things, Great Basin origins explain the Apishapa foraging economy that focused on small mammals, antelope and deer, and meager horticulture. Insubstantial structures and temporary rock shelter habitations attest to residential mobility. As others have noted, Archaic rock art in the Great Basin and Apishapa areas are remarkably similar. Abstract curvilinear and rectilinear styles in both areas share several motifs and combinations. We use Great Basin ethnography to discuss abstract rock art at the mouth of the Apishapa canyon in southeast Colorado. Pilgrimages and the Great Basin version of shamanism, especially the concept of soul capture, help to explain Apishapa ‘maps’.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Methodology and Interpretation in the Archaeology of Rock Art

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 14842