American Indian Petroglyphs and Rock Paintings

Singing Desert: photographs of ancient Native American petroglyphs and rock art paintings of the Southwest United States.

Ancestral Pueblo Style Rock Art
The All American Man shield figure, Ancestral Pueblo, Canyonlands, Utah.

New here? Take a first look

How the styles fit together, oldest to youngest

Ancestral Puebloan

9 galleries
The Crane Panel: petroglyph of a long-necked crane with outstretched wings and a circle

Ancestral Puebloan Art

9 photos

 The Four Faces panel: four painted faces with necklaces and decorations

Canyonlands Faces

6 photos

 Red, yellow and white painted handprints

Ancestral Pueblo Handprints

4 photos

 Two nearly life-sized painted male figures, one dark and one with a headdress

Painted Cave Site

17 photos

 Western San Juan Basketmaker figures with large headdresses, necklaces and sashes

Western San Juan Basketmaker-style Petroglyphs

3 photos

 Petroglyph hunting scene: hunters with atlatls, bighorn sheep, corn plants and a flute player

Ancestral Pueblo Hunting Scene

1 photo

 Petroglyph panel with twin figures, dancers, spirals and animals

Ancestral Pueblo Twin Figures

8 photos

 Petroglyph of a couple joined at the groin beside a figure giving birth

Birthing Scenes

4 photos

 Painted handprint, star-like burst and crescent moon on an overhang ceiling at Chaco Canyon

Chaco Canyon Supernova

1 photo

Barrier Canyon Style

11 galleries
Faded Barrier Canyon Style panel with slender figures in headdresses below rows of red dots

Barrier Canyon Style Rock Art

11 photos

 The Holy Ghost and attendant figures, tall dark-red Barrier Canyon Style paintings at the Great Gallery

The Great Gallery

6 photos

 The full Hitchhiker panel: tapering painted figures along a sandstone wall

The Perfect Hitchhiker Panel

7 photos

 Head of Sinbad figure with a headdress, small birds and a snake, beside a faded figure

Head of Sinbad

6 photos

 Barrier Canyon Style figure with long fingers and feathered head, birds and a four-legged animal

The Tall Panel

7 photos

 San Rafael River panel: tall thin figures with feet, horned headdresses and animals above

San Rafael River Panel

2 photos

 Snake In Mouth figure with blue eyes and a snake at its mouth, beside smaller figures

Snake In Mouth

2 photos

 Horned snake with arms dripping from its mouth, beside striped and bird-like figures

Transformation Scene

8 photos

 Section of the Harvest Scene: tall figures, one holding a plant, with small animals

The Harvest Scene Painting

4 photos

 Red Barrier Canyon Style figures beside a large dark dog-like animal with two white spots, and a horned figure

Cactus Flats

5 photos

 Close view of the dragonfly-like figure with spread wings and small winged figures, beside a tall dotted figure

Dragonfly Panel

5 photos

Fremont Rock Art

3 galleries
Fremont warrior with a spiral shield, among smaller figures and animals

Fremont Indian Rock Art

8 photos

 Large Fremont petroglyph panel of trapezoid-shaped figures with headdresses, necklaces and a round shield

McConkie Ranch Fremont Style Rock Art

6 photos

 Long dark petroglyph panel crowded with bighorn sheep, hunters with bows and a large horned figure

Nine Mile Canyon

6 photos

Multiple Styles

4 galleries
Barrier Canyon Style painted figures at Thompson Springs

Thompson Springs (Sego Canyon) Rock Art

10 photos

 Dark-red painted figures beside a horned four-legged animal, a wavy snake and a small fringed object

Temple Mountain

6 photos

 Section of the Rochester Panel with an arching rainbow-like band and many creatures

Rochester Panel

6 photos

 Petroglyph panel with flute players, birds, animals and human figures

Flute Players

7 photos

Other Styles

4 galleries
Painted abstract-geometric designs: rakes, grids, plant-like forms and rows of lines

Abstract-geometric Rock Art

Abstract-geometric · 2 photos

 Long, thin pecked Glen Canyon Style 5 figures and patterns on a boulder

Glen Canyon Style 5

Glen Canyon Style 5 · 2 photos

 Interior Line Style petroglyph of a figure with a headdress and line-filled body

Interior Line Style Petroglyphs

Interior Line Style · 7 photos

 Large pecked animal with a long neck and a cross-hatched body on a dark basalt boulder

Three Rivers

Jornada Mogollon · 17 photos