ADVENTURES WITH ROCKS (TM): TALES FROM THE ROCK- Ancient Stories Written In Stone

grinding holes near tyson wash petroglyphs

As anyone who has spent time out here in the desert knows, the Sonoran desert can be a harsh and unforgiving environment. We, with our modern conveniences and inventions, have managed to make life here much more comfortable than it used to be. If we need food, we go to the grocery store. If we need fuel we go to the RV place and fill up our propane tanks. If we need water, we pump it in, or load up our tanks onto our motorized vehicles and drive to a place where we turn on a spigot and clean water flows out. In the harsh cold, we turn on a furnace. In the heat of the day, we turn on our air conditioners.

Many times I have heard people say that they would never be able to live here in the desert if it wasn’t for those modern conveniences. It seems as though we forget that people have lived here for thousands of years without those things. Here in Arizona the Hopi, the Navajo, the Havasupai, the Yavapai, the Yuma peoples, and the ancestral Anasazi, thrived in this harsh, yet beautiful land.

tyson wash petroglyphs

We are fortunate to have many places here in the Quartzsite area where we can contemplate the ancient way of life here in the desert. The two closest ones are Dripping Springs and the site along the east side of Tyson Wash between the La Paz and the Tyson Wash BLM camping areas. Farther away, but well worth the trip, is Grapevine Canyon in Nevada, just north of Laughlin in the Lake Mead Recreation Area. This site is spectacular, with thousands of petroglyphs lining a gorgeous canyon. When visiting these ancient sites I frequently overhear the conversations of other visitors. Quite often, people will walk up to a site, take a few quick photographs, and say, “I wonder what that means.” Or “I wonder why that is here, in the middle of nowhere”. Then they check it off their list and head off to the next thing on their agenda, never giving it a second thought.

At the Tyson Wash site there are two panels of petroglyphs and an area with grinding holes across the wash on a rock outcrop. At the base of the rock with the main petroglyph panel is a water hole that goes deep into the water table at the base of the rock. When there was no other water to be found, there was water here and plenty of it. The other panel, on the south side of the outcropping is located above a small cave. Because of the water at this site, there is an abundance of vegetation and trees, as well as birds, and other wildlife.

petroglyphs at dripping springs

At Dripping Springs, on a 100 degree day, water was flowing out of the rock and accumulating in a small pool. The area was well shaded and full of trees and shrubs. The temperature around the spring was at least 20 degrees cooler than the desert just 50 yards away. In Grapevine Canyon, there is a stream with a waterfall, a small cave, and stands of wild grapes where the glyphs are located.

To best understand these sites when visiting them, find a place to sit for awhile and contemplate the environment. Imagine yourself traveling across this hot, dry, windy, and dusty desert landscape, looking for a place that has what you need to survive…food, water, shelter. Now look carefully at this place. Look around, away from this site, out into the desert and notice the difference. Think about the importance of this place to your survival. There is water here, the sustainer of all life. There is shelter here, in the trees and the rocks. There is food here, because the animals and plants need this water to survive also. During the heat of the day the tall trees provide shade, at night they offer warmth by giving fuel for a fire. There is rest here, and comfortable places to work. Maybe new tools need to be made, or food needs to be prepared. This is a sacred place, a place of survival, a refuge from the harsh and life-threatening desert conditions.

petroglyphs at grapevine canyon

Now look at the glyphs. Use your imagination. What do they say to you? What would they say to another like you, also searching for the same things. Think about traveling a long distance on a highway . You are tired and hungry, it’s getting late, and the fuel gauge is close to empty. You look for a place to find food for your body, gas for your car, and a comfortable and safe place to sleep. There is still a long stretch of road ahead of you. Suddenly, a sign comes into view. Rest Stop. “Food, fuel, lodging, next exit”, it says, and you breathe a sigh of relief.

Look at the petroglyphs again. Now what do they say to you? Be still and contemplate quietly. Imagine yourself here in the desert 1000 years ago. No Pilot Travel Center just off the Interstate, no restaurants or grocery stores. No RV in which to weather the storms. But people thrived here for centuries. The ancient ones who lived off the land called this desert their home long before modern technology made life in the desert leisurely. They passed on their knowledge of how to survive in their desert home by drawing signs, glyphs, on the rocks, saying “Food, fuel, shelter, here”. “This is a good place to live in the desert”.

pottery shards and tools at homolovi

Look for other signs of ancient life here in the desert. What other things have been left behind? Grinding holes where food was ground from seeds and berries into dough? Campfire remnants? Stone tools? What about nature’s treasures, like petrified wood or fossils? What treasures do these ancient sites hold that, we, in our hurry to check them off our list, have missed?

As we live here in the desert, comfortable and secure with our modern conveniences, it is easy to forget that life here was not always so carefree. These ancient sites that we visit and photograph are so much more than simple pictures drawn by primitive people. They are tales from the rocks, stories of ancient generations and their way of life here in the desert. They are stories of hope and survival, success and failure, death and life, love and war, prayers and thanksgiving. Hidden in them are dreams, goals, fears, and desires, reaching through time waiting to speak to future generations. Let the desert, the mountains, and the stories in the rocks speak. They have much to say if we would just sit quietly for awhile, open up our imagination, look and listen.

For more information about petroglyphs visit Rocks In My Head at Space A37 in Rice Ranch, 605-376-8754, or online at www.RocksInMyHead.biz. We have a great selection of artifact points, Anasazi pottery shards, as well as petrified wood in stock.