Day 23 – Petroglyphs

We travelled through the Capitan portion of the Sacramento Mountains of south central New Mexico on highway 380 in a westward direction. Eventually we crossed the Continental Divide not far from our camp at the little community of Capitan [note: This was where Smokey the Bear was rescued after a forest fire.]

We woke to a nippy 37 degrees, but as we descended from the divide the temperature soon rose to a comfortable 67 degrees by the time we headed south on highway 54.



Before we knew it we were at the turn for the Three Rivers Petroglyph National Recreation Site. The visitor center host provided information about the trail, the petroglyphs, and we were off to explore. The site is a small knoll with chunks of black basalt rock scattered all over it.


This site was a small village of the Jornada Mogollan people who lived in this area from about 300 BC to 1450 AD. There are over 21,000 petroglyphs scattered around the site. It was like a treasure hunt to see if we could spot different petroglyphs, often on multiple sides of boulders.


The glyphs are carved into the patina that formed on the basalt blocks. It was amusing to imagine a harried mother trying to make a meal and sending the children up the hill to “color”.  Actually though, it was more likely that healers or shaman went up there to meditate. That idea seems to align with the number of healing hands and medicine wheel petroglyphs that were scattered around.

Can you identify the different shapes on these petroglyphs?








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