NOTE: Continuing the search for man's brushstrokes upon the New Mexico land-
scape which began with rockets, we leave Tularosa and end up on the rocks.
scape which began with rockets, we leave Tularosa and end up on the rocks.
(courtesy of Google Maps)
Just seventeen miles north of Tularosa, NM, one encounters a turnoff sign, "Three Rivers Petroglyphs ->" .
Continuing our search for evidence of human intrusion upon the New Mexico landscape, we take a right turn and drive five more miles toward an otherwise nondescript rise of the desert's floor. There, paths meander among rocks enhanced with more than 21,000 rock carvings! Here, in this example is a rattlesnake.
Like many of these New Mexico landmarks, they are often wonderfully silent and eerily deserted.
"Page 43" of the Jornada Mogollon's bighorn sheep hunting manual?Or did they serve some other purpose? Like Powerpoint illustrations for tribal business meetings? Training manuals for young hunters or are they, as one commenter suggests, simply messages like "Matthew loves Rhonda" or "Na-Dene Rules!"? Likely, more than a few fall in this latter category.
But standing here alone amidst the silence of this vast outdoor gallery of centuries old art transcending time one, in a moment of altered consciousness, might ponder if at least some of these graphics weren't "God gene" manifestations given up in ecstatic moments using the best possible medium available in a very harsh environment? A thousand years later, we are only left to speculate.
Sadly, any photos I have taken there are in some pre-digital sediment slide tray layer of an upper pleistocene closet shelf.But the thousands of rock drawings indicate the presence of pre-Columbian inhabits here in an area 21st Century man finds unsuitable for habitation.
It's definitely not a people friendly environment leaving one to wonder if conditions have changed that much over a thousand years or if Jornada Mogollon peoples were just tougher than their more comfortable modern "American Idol" watching counterparts of the early 21st Century. And did some of them perchance really have six fingers?
Returning to US Hwy 54, we continue north to Carrizozo where Mrs. Dada and I turn west on highway 380. My pulse quickens. Ahead lies the high point of the day--Bingham, NM, population 2. Home of a certain living, rare man-made green glass!
*Attribute - petroglyphs photos from Three Rivers Petroglyph Site
5 comments:
Yes, indeed, who knows?
Gack! Six fingers! Now you got my brain working overtime. I notice the little finger is on a fault line & wonder if that means anything (like the artist messed up by starting there & had to shift over, thus giving himself an extra digit)? And oooh, six fingers in medievel europe was one of many signs of a witch! Being "polydactyl" is the result of a rare, but dominant, gene that tends to run in families. Perhaps it conferred greater stone-art ability here?
I also wonder about that "rattlesnake" -- looks more like a solar sign to me, one that might indicate meso-amerind presence in NM (perhaps tunneling under the azteca homeland security natl guard).
I enjoyed every moment of your petroglyph brushstroke & look fwd to Bingham, where the population of 2 is doubled everytime you pass through! ~~ D.K.
eprof: In an earlier comment you made I overlooked in my replying to your statement, "I'm going to assume that you had a dry winter and therefore couldn't photograph a wild flower spring as you planned," you are exactly right.
The day before the annual "poppy romp" or whatever it's called, I walked in the hills to preview the flowers. There was nothing!
Re Los Alamos: Having spent a few nights in that town on a couple of occasions, I suspect there may be radioactive material leaking from the lab--people there strike me as a little strange. Of course, having one of the most educated populations of any community in the country might explain some of its quirkiness. After all, how many times have you encountered a genius, brilliant in his/her specialty, yet totally lacking in most other social skills and common sense? (grin)
Raed: How prescient of you re the upcoming Bingham blog - "where the population of 2 is doubled everytime you pass through."
That's exactly how I'd imagined opening that blog..."population 2, but at any moment during the day is often 2-3 times that size"!
Oh, and one confession to make to all. I just threw in the "God gene" reference and afterwards thought that iffy at best. The mystic moments, or religious ectasy, such a gene initiates is of such short duration as to be incompatible with the time required to etch such lasting images in stone. (Unless, of course, such artists were using a Dremel tool or something. [I'm talking a battery powered Dremel, of course, as I'm pretty sure the Mogollon's didn't have electricity available to them - much as modern day Iraqis don't either.]
Oh, I like YOUR title MUCH better! I had actually thought "population 2" was a typo. Sheesh, what would inspire a coupla enchanters to go through "incorporation" (or whatever it's called in NM) for *2* people? Now I'm REALLY intrigued!
I'm glad you brought up the God Gene. I was gonna say something about how tenacious this mutant gene is, but then thought how it must have been originally very useful in helping our ancestors explain the inexplicable, thus calming their daily fears. It's not the gene's fault that it has been so perverted it today that Bush can actually claim God talks to him -- and 33% of us think He actually is, another 33% think it's possible, and the rest of us need our heads Dremeled. I didn't post that comment because I was not aware of the word "Dremel" yet!
Something else tweaked me about the 6-fingered 'glypher: if polydactyly is a dominant gene, why aren't we ALL are so endowed? Unless there's a physical downside to the trait that I can't see, all I can think is it is discriminated against in sexual selection. Hmmm, gotta think some more. ~~ D.K.
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