Research Questions Driving Rock Art Recording Methodology in the Alexandria Project

Summary

For over twenty years, Shumla Archaeological Research & Education Center has studied and promoted the preservation of rock art in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands along the U.S.-Mexico border. In July 2017, Shumla launched the three-year Alexandria Project designed to gather an extensive dataset from over 350 known rock art sites in Val Verde County, where the majority of US sites are located. Research questions driving data collection reflect two main aspects: geospatial distribution and iconographic content. Are there patterns in rock art site locations? Is there a correlation between other archaeological features and rock art? What are the distributions of key motifs across the landscape? Shumla will provide high-resolution data to better understand distribution, density, range, and context of Pecos River Style pictographs in addition to the lesser known pictographs styles and petroglyphs. This paper explores the Alexandria Project research questions and potential for future research.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Methodology and Interpretation in the Archaeology of Rock Art   •
• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20238