Rock Art of the Lower Pecos

Four thousand years ago bands of hunter-gatherers lived in and traveled through the challenging terrain of what is now southwest Texas and northern Mexico. Today, travelers to the Lower Pecos canyonlands can view large murals these early people left behind on the canyon walls and cliff overhangs of this arid region. Rattlesnake Canyon, White Shaman, Panther Cave, Mythic Shelter, and Cedar Springs, which together represent some of the most complex and enigmatic rock art panels, contain messages from the distant past that are now interpreted for modern readers by artist- archaeologist Carolyn E.Boyd. Scholars have feared that the meaning of this ancient art was lost with the artists who produced it. However, thanks to research break thoughts, the elaborate rock paintings are again communicating a narrative that was inaccessible to humanity for millennia. In these ancient murals, Boyd sees a way that hunter-gatherer artists expressed their belief systems; provided a mechanism for social and environmental adap...