NM ARCHAEOLOGY
Ancient rock art provides a glimpse into the past, and tells a story of prehistoric cultures who once roamed the land. Join the Friends group at both Coronado and Jemez Historic Sites for captivating talks from archaeologists and other experts about the impact that rock art has made in our understanding of the past.
For a list of archived talks by guest speakers, including YouTube videos (if available) of those presentations, click on the topic below.
For a list of discussion related to Rock Art, including YouTube videos of those presentations, click on the topic below.
Interpretation of Pueblo
Rock Art with Dr. Severin
Fowles
In this presentation, Dr. Fowles will consider a stunning revolution in image
production that unfolded in the American Southwest after about 4,000 years ago, hand-in-hand
with the spread of agriculture. As decades of research has demonstrated, farmers produced fundamentally different sorts of images than the hunter-gatherers who preceded them. Through an analysis of the rock art of northern New Mexico, Fowles seeks to clarify this difference, to define the ways in which it was revolutionary, and to offer a general account of the relationship between image production and agricultural production.
Rock Art and Pueblo Shields: Symbolism and Change, presented by Polly Schaafsma
Pueblo shields are a spectacular component of the pre-Hispanic rock art in the northern Rio Grande valley, including at Mesa Prieta, where they are found in large numbers.
Focusing on their associated symbolism and functions in the landscape, brief comparisons will be made with historic shields, and the significance of the observed iconographic continuities and changes will be discussed. The YouTube link to Polly’s webinar, “Rock Art and Pueblo Shields: Symbolism and Change” is generously provided by Polly Schaafsma, and The School for Advanced Research (SAR) partnered with the Mesa Prieta Project. The first 10 minutes will be a talk given by Katherine Wells, founder of the Mesa Prieta Project. Polly Schaafsma is an American archaeologist, best known for her publications on Native American rock art. Ms. Schaafsma is a research associate in the Laboratory of Anthropology, Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe, New Mexico. She and her husband, anthropologist Curtis F. Schaafsma, have published research on the origins of the prehistoric Katchina cult in what became the Southwest USA. Ms. Schaafsma is a frequent lecturer and instructor at rock art field seminars for the School for Advanced Research, the Museum of New Mexico, Crow Canyon Archaeological Center, and elsewhere. In 2008, Schaafsma received the Klaus Wellmann Memorial Award from the American Rock Art Research Association.