San Rafael Swell, Utah

This busy panel of petroglyphs was probably etched into this rock by many different artists over a long period of time. While we can only speculate as to the artists’ meanings, it would probably be a good guess to say that at least one of them was inspired by a rainbow. Other interesting figures would include the apparently pregnant figure on the right side beneath the rainbow. As opposed to pictographs which were “painted” onto the rock’s surface, these petroglyphs were created by chipping away the darker patinated layer on the surface to reveal the lighter sandstone beneath. As with many elaborate panels such as this, these petroglyphs are located along a major travel corridor at the junction of two major canyons.