Petroglyph Canyon ( 24CB601) is an

archaeologically Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

significant

canyon A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...

in the

northwestern United States The Northwestern United States, also known as the American Northwest or simply the Northwest, is an informal geographic region of the United States. The region consistently includes the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. ...

. Located on both sides of the border between

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

and

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

, the canyon has long been obscure due to its small size. However, it gained substantial attention in the late 20th century because of its numerous prehistoric

petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

s, and much of it was named a

historic site A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been rec ...

in the 1970s.

Geology

Petroglyph Canyon's most significant portion is located in the southern half of

Section Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sign ...

35,

Township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

9 South, Range 26 East, within far southern

Carbon County, Montana Carbon County is a county located in the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,473. Its county seat is Red Lodge. Carbon County is part of the Billings, MT Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Carbon County wa ...

. The entire canyon runs in a northwest-southeast direction for approximately ,Sinafoos, Charles, and John Taylor.
Domestic Geographic Name Report: Petroglyph Canyon
.

Board on Geographic Names The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the federal governm ...

, 1991-10-01. Accessed 2013-06-16. beginning 1 mile north of the most significant area and extending approximately into

Big Horn County, Wyoming Big Horn County is a county in the U.S. state of Wyoming. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 11,521. The county seat is Basin. Its north boundary abuts the south boundary of Montana. History Big Horn County was created by ...

. The walls and boulders in the canyon are primarily

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

, having been

weathered ''Weathered'' is the third studio album by American rock band Creed, released on November 20, 2001. It was the last Creed album to be released until '' Full Circle'' came out in October 2009, with Creed disbanding in June 2004. It is the only Cr ...

to a dark brown color, although under the surface the stone is a lighter tan color.

Petroglyphs

A portion of the canyon measuring approximately long features numerous prehistoric

s, both on the canyon walls and on boulders. At least eighteen different groups of carvings are known, in addition to

features Feature may refer to: Computing * Feature (CAD), could be a hole, pocket, or notch * Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob * Feature (software design) is an intentional distinguishing characteristic of a software item ...

such as

hearth A hearth () is the place in a home where a fire is or was traditionally kept for home heating and for cooking, usually constituted by at least a horizontal hearthstone and often enclosed to varying degrees by any combination of reredos (a lo ...

s and small pieces of stone resulting from the

manufacturing process Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a ran ...

for

stone tool A stone tool is, in the most general sense, any tool made either partially or entirely out of stone. Although stone tool-dependent societies and cultures still exist today, most stone tools are associated with prehistoric (particularly Stone Ag ...

s. Most of the petroglyphs were created by "pecking" tiny holes, although one group is formed of lines that were clearly

engraved Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an in ...

into the rock. The majority of designs at Petroglyph Canyon feature humans or large game animals such as

bison Bison are large bovines in the genus ''Bison'' (Greek: "wild ox" (bison)) within the tribe Bovini. Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American bison, ''B. bison'', found only in North Ame ...

and

bighorn sheep The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of sheep native to North America. It is named for its large horns. A pair of horns might weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subspec ...

. Some carvings clearly feature men or women, many of which appear with sexual imagery such as

phallic symbols A phallus is a penis (especially when erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history a figure with an erect penis is described as ithyphallic. Any object that symbolically—or, more precisely ...

external female genitalia The vulva (plural: vulvas or vulvae; derived from Latin for wrapper or covering) consists of the external female sex organs. The vulva includes the mons pubis (or mons veneris), labia majora, labia minora, clitoris, vestibular bulbs, vulval ...

respectively. Some of the carvings are old enough that they have begun to weather to the dark color of the surrounding stone, but most show little sign of erosion. A few designs at the site, such as personal names, have obviously been added much more recently by vandals, but such carvings are rare and were typically placed near older designs instead of on top of them.

Recognition

Petroglyph Canyon received its present name in 1967, when an archaeological survey discovered the carvings; it had appeared on numerous maps published since 1859, but no map published before 1967 provided a name for the canyon. The first "official" use of the current name was made in 1975, when the canyon was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

; it appears on the National Register as "Petroglyph Canyon". Since that time, the name has commonly been used by agencies such as the

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...

and the Forest Service, as well as by local residents. In 1992, the

officially gave the canyon its current name. The canyon was listed on the National Register as an important

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

, as modern vandalism — whether carvings or occasional digging into the canyon's stone-tool manufacturing sites — had been unable to diminish its unparalleled quality. Petroglyph sites have been found throughout Montana, but "pecked" sites are far rarer than in states such as Wyoming or

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, and Petroglyph Canyon features a broader range of artwork with less deterioration than almost any other Montana rock art site. When the site was listed, Bureau of Land Management archaeologists hoped to conduct future work at the site to compare it with other rock art sites in the region. Because the site's styles more closely resemble what has been found at distant sites than they do other nearby sites, it is hoped that such comparisons will reveal the migration patterns of the peoples who created sites such as Petroglyph Canyon.

Geology

Petroglyphs

Recognition

References

Further reading