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Ancestral Pueblo Twin Figures

Paired or “twin” human-like figures are common in Ancestral Puebloan rock art, especially in the Cedar Mesa area of southeastern Utah. Sally J. Cole discusses them in her book Legacy on Stone. No one knows what they meant to the artists.

Row of twin figures pecked into the rock

These twin figures are lower down but on the same panel as the Hunting Scene.

Petroglyph panel with twin figures, dancers, spirals and animals

This panel of twin and dancing figures is a half day's walk from the Hunting Scene panel.

Petroglyphs on dark varnish with a large spiral, a long-bodied animal, a bird-headed figure, bighorn sheep and small human figures

Twins on the far right.

Wide varnished panel with bighorn sheep, wavy lines, a large circle and rows of triangular-bodied figures

This is the first of three photos from this panel. The twin figures are at the bottom center.

Crowded petroglyph panel of bighorn sheep, triangular-bodied figures and small human figures

Two pairs of twins in the center.

Panel with bighorn sheep, small paired human figures and a large faint oval above a curved crack

Twins in the center below the large animal.

Sandstone boulder with pecked paired figures, birds, bighorn sheep and animal tracks

Twins at the top right and top left.

Faint petroglyph figures on the underside of a rock overhang, above a small stone wall

These are pecked on the overhang above what appears to be an old dwelling or storage structure.

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