Petroglyphs in New Mexico

I am such a sucker for ancient Native American art. And happily, for me and many others, there is so much of it here in New Mexico.

Last weekend was the perfect opportunity to visit our nearby petroglyphs at the Abo ruins. My “co-grandparents” Bob and Nancy were here from Florida – my daughter-in-law’s folks. Her mom had never been here, and we wanted to show off our enchanted state to best advantage. So a trip to the Pueblo Missions National Monument with the surrounding petroglyphs was high on our list. And only a 25 minutes (under normal circumstances) drive from our home.

But this time, traveling the dirt roads to our destination, we stopped to help a motorist with a flat tire (that’s just what you DO here!) and coincidentally, he happened to be the park ranger who was scheduled to take us on the tour! My son got him up and running again and we all rendezvoused at the ruins.

The skies were typical New Mexican azure blue. The sound track to our hike was a Cicada orchestra in full swing. It was hot and dry – and we were surrounded by mounds that buried and protected what remained of a thriving village from over 500 years ago.

Bob and Nancy were still getting acclimated to our 7,000 ft above sea level environment, but they were real troopers and made it the entire way, to the petroglyphs carved into a rocky outcrop about a mile from where we started.

Despite the ranger’s eloquent description of the petrogyphs, (the meaning of the different symbols, how they resembled rock art from Mexico etc.), I preferred to absorb the beauty of these ancient designs and let them speak to me directly. Especially since no one really knows for sure what the petroglyphs mean…I hold to my own belief. And that is: that they were created for sheer artistic joy. Representations of the beauty these artists saw all around them. And I believe they were speaking directly to anyone who would ever see them. Including our little group, centuries after their creation.

As an artist, I look at all created beauty in a really simple way. The form, color, emotional impact. I love it or maybe it doesn’t speak to me. But these representations, carved by hand into hard rock using simple tools, communicate to me at a very basic level.

What kind of art do you enjoy?

Your Animal Loving Artist,

Merry