Newspaper Rock contains more than 650 petroglyph images pecked, carved, or incised in boulders within a larger concentration of images along the sandstone bluffs south of the Puerco River, a distinction that helped make the area an Archeological District on the National Register of Historic Places. These petroglyphs were created by ancestral Puebloan people who lived, farmed, and hunted along the Puerco River between 650 and 2,000 years ago, and residents of nearby Puerco Pueblo, less than one mile north, were likely among their creators. The dense concentration of glyphs suggests that many generations contributed to the messages on these sandstone bluffs. Petroglyphs were made by chipping through the rock’s natural black patina to reveal lighter sandstone beneath; this patina consists primarily of iron and manganese oxides with clay particles and organic material. The images represent ideas rather than a language and include human-like figures, animal depictions, spirals, and hand- or footprints. Although the exact meaning of each petroglyph is unknown, collaboration with contemporary American Indians provides insight into their significance, with modern groups interpreting themes that include family or clan symbols, territorial boundaries, important events, spiritual meanings, and the movements of the sun, moon, and stars charted in a special group of glyphs used to manage ceremonial and agricultural calendars.
