Mesa Point Trail

In Boca Negra Canyon, identification of some petroglyphs is based on interpretations by today's Pueblo people. The meanings of all the images cannot be known with certainty, and modern Pueblos do not consider it appropriate to reveal an image's meaning to others. Different Pueblos hold differing opinions about meanings, and a single image may have complex or multiple meanings depending on its context. Most petroglyph images in the park are dated by relative dating techniques, comparing design elements to dated pottery and prehistoric Puebloan murals. Those murals, painted in color on the plaster walls of kivas, or subterranean ceremonial rooms, include many images not found before 1300, suggesting that new ideas were beginning to emerge in Pueblo culture.

Albuquerque, New Mexico · United States