The Black Rock Site: It's Not Just Paleoindian Rock Art

Summary

This is an abstract from the "From the Plains to the Plateau: Papers in Honor of James D. Keyser" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Black Rock is an extremely rare, fully pecked rock art site in southwestern Wyoming. It is dominated by unusual anthropomorphic forms and associated abstract/geometric designs, with three identifiable zoomorphic figures (two mountain sheep and one elk). As part of a 1990s dating study, 14C and rock varnish microlamination age estimates suggested a Paleoindian age (Liu and Dorn 1996) for the completely revarnished petroglyphs, and some investigators inferred the imagery to represent one contemporaneous scene. Additional recording completed in 2018 documented multiple manufacturing episodes and superimpositions, with at least two distinct types of anthropomorphic figures. In addition, finely scratched figures, reflecting usage of the site during the Late Prehistoric or Protohistoric period, were also identified. A Paleoindian age for the earliest rock art manufacture is considered likely, with subsequent additions to the panel during the Holocene. A Great Basin affiliation for the pecked rock art is also likely.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• From the Plains to the Plateau: Papers in Honor of James D. Keyser

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32742