Basin and Range National Monument is a national monument of the United States spanning approximately 704,000 acres of remote, undeveloped mountains and valleys in Lincoln and Nye counties in southeastern Nevada.
Basin and Range NM
https://www.blm.gov/programs/national-conservation-lands/nevada/basin-and-range-national-monument
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basin_and_Range_National_Monument
Basin and Range National Monument is a national monument of the United States spanning approximately 704,000 acres of remote, undeveloped mountains and valleys in Lincoln and Nye counties in southeastern Nevada.
Rock Art
The nevAdA rock Art FoundAtion produced
this product with funding provided by the sale of
public lands by the BureAu oF LAnd MAnAgeMent
and approved under an inter-agency partnership
authorized by the Lincoln County Land Act.
Mt. Irish
Archaeological
Mount Irish
District
Archaeological
District
BLM
NRAF
LincoLn county
ArchAeoLogicAL initiAtive Project
Rock Art of Lincoln County
Mount Irish Archaeological District
Pres e rvin g
t h e Pas t
S
ome of the oldest petroglyphs in the Great Basin date to
10,000 years ago; in the Mt. Irish Archaeological District,
some petroglyphs are 4,000 years old. Despite this antiquity,
rock art, like other archaeological monuments, is a fragile part
of Nevada’s cultural heritage.
Natural erosional processes, such as weathering from water
and wind, are slowly wearing away these ancient markings.
Time itself works against the images as the surface of the
petroglyph slowly darkens, a process known as repatination,
which ultimately erases the glyphs.
Other threats include intentional defacement like graffiti
or other vandalism. This damage cannot be removed or even
camouflaged easily and is expensive to treat.
Federal and state laws protect archaeological sites from
vandalism and theft, and many sites are monitored by
concerned local citizens volunteering in the State of Nevada’s
site stewardship program. Because the past deserves a future,
visitors at archaeological sites can help by following a few simple
guidelines.
•
•
Take only pictures, leave only footprints
Be a steward—volunteer to monitor the condition of
archaeological sites
For more information on how you can help preserve Nevada’s
past, visit these websites
www.nv.blm.org
www.nvshpo.org/stewards.html
www.nvrockart.org
16
Mt. Iris h
Archae ologica l Dis t ric t
T
he Mt. Irish Archaeological District, located on the
eastern flank of the Mt. Irish Range, is one of the most
important archaeological areas in eastern Nevada. The District
covers 640 acres and provides a vista of prehistoric rock art and
habitation sites, set in a dramatic landscape of tuff (volcanic
ash) knolls and outcrops, alluvial fans, and washes. The District
is best known for spectacular rock art that portrays the cultural
lives of the Native American peoples who used the area some
4,000 years ago through the nineteenth century. The three
largest rock art sites in the District (Mt. Irish IV, V, and VI)
have interpretive trails and a trail guide that is available at
visitors’ register boxes at these sites.
Eastern Nevada, until the coming of Euro-American settlers
in the nineteenth century, was settled by hunter-gatherer
cultures who skillfully harvested the wild resources of this arid
region for several thousand years. Aided by deep knowledge of
the environment’s animal and plant resources, hunter-gatherers
used efficient technology and lived in small, mobile family
groups to gather seasonally available plants, animals, and other
resources across the landscape. The Mt. Irish area was used
for short-term stays to hunt animals, gather plants, and make
rock art. These repeated visits stretch back as far as 4,000 years
ago but became more intensive and frequent during the period
2,000-500 years ago.
Rock art, settlement, and economic activities are intertwined
in the Mt. Irish area. Many rock art sites are accompanied by
the remains of campsites and foraging activities. Rock-shelters,
middens, stone tools, and fragments of tools show that animals
and plants were often processed in the vicinity of rock art. Were
people drawn to the area by seasonally by available resources,
or did the area have a special social and cultural significance,
marked by rock art, that explains why hunter-gatherers visited
the area? The exact meanings and cultural significance of Mt.
Irish’s rock art and its landscape may be unknowable, but these
cultural marks indicate the area was important to the peoples
who used these galleries of ancient art. The rock art and the Mt.
1
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Archaeological Initiative Project
The Nevada Rock Art Foundation produced this
product with funding provided by the sale of public
lands by the Bureau of Land Management and
approved under an inter-agency partnership authorized
by the Lincoln County Land Act.
Rock Art
White River Narrows
National Register
District
N E VA DA
R OCK A RT
F O U N DAT I O N
BLM
NRAF
Lincoln County
Rock Art of Lincoln County
White River Narrows National Register District
Whit e Ri v e r Na rrows
In troduc tio n
Pres e rvin g t h e Pas t
T
he oldest petroglyphs in the Great Basin are 8,000 years
old; in the White River Narrows, some petroglyphs are
4,000 years old. Despite this antiquity, rock art, like other
archaeological monuments, is a fragile part of Nevada’s cultural
heritage. Natural weathering processes, such as wind and
rain, are slowly eroding these ancient markings. Other threats
include intentional defacement like graffiti or other vandalism.
Intentional damages cannot be removed or even camouflaged
easily and are expensive to treat. Federal and state laws protect
archaeological sites from vandalism and theft, and many sites
are monitored by concerned local citizens volunteering in the
State of Nevada’s site stewardship program. Because the past
deserves a future, visitors at archaeological sites can help by
following a few simple guidelines.
Take only pictures, leave only footprints.
Be a steward—volunteer to monitor the condition
of archaeological sites.
For more information on how you can help preserve
Nevada’s past, visit these websites.
www.blm.gov/nv
www.nvshpo.org/stewards
www.nvrockart.org
12
W
hite River Narrows, in lower White River Valley, is one
of the largest concentrations of prehistoric rock art in
eastern Nevada. The importance of the Narrows’ archaeological
heritage is recognized by its listing on the National Register
of Historic Places. The petroglyphs here provide glimpses into
the cultural lives of Native American peoples who lived by
harvesting wild plants and animals from some 4,000 years ago
until the nineteenth century. Although the exact meanings
of the Narrows’ rock art may be unknowable, they mark the
Narrows as a place important to those who made and used these
galleries of ancient art. These petroglyphs continue today to be
important to Native American peoples living in the region.
White River Narrows is a winding canyon that was carved
by the White River during the Pleistocene or Ice Age (ca. 2.5
million to 11,700 years ago). The Narrows forms a travel corridor
used by ancient Native American cultures and, more recently, it
was a route for unpaved SR38 until 1980.
For most of the region’s history, until the coming of EuroAmerican settlers in the nineteenth century, hunter-gatherer
cultures settled eastern Nevada. Hunters and gatherers skillfully
harvested the wild resources of the arid Great Basin. Their deep
environmental knowledge and efficient technology allowed
them to prosper in the region for thousands of years. Huntergatherer groups lived in small, mobile family groups and moved
across the landscape to gather seasonally available plants,
animals, and other resources. Their cultural knowledge was
expressed through song, myth, and rock art.
Early farmers from the Fremont
Culture (2000-850 years ago) of Utah
also influenced the prehistory of
eastern Nevada. Short-term campsites
and pottery made by the Fremont are
found in eastern Nevada, indicating
trade and cultural connections with
their core territory to the east.
1
Rock Art of Lincoln County
White River Narrows National Register District
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and compositions
particularly
striking. Abstract
designs include
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and
evocative.
In
this
tradition
of rock
extend for several meters, complex meanders, outlined crosses,
art,
artists
depicted
peopleRepresentational
as stick-figures. They
portrayed
rakes,
spirals,
and circles.
figures
include a
wide
range
of
animal
species,
most
commonly
bighorn
a large number of bighorn sheep (arranged in groups, assheep,
if
but
also deer,
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Shooting Gallery
BLM
NRAF
Rock Art
Sh oot in g Ga l l e ry
In troduc tio n
S
hooting Gallery, situated on the east flank of Badger
Mountain, is an archaeological district rich in prehistoric
rock art, hunting sites, and campsites. The intermixing of
settlement archaeology and art offers a unique glimpse into the
cultural lives of the Native American peoples who visited this
rugged landscape for thousands of years prior to the coming of
Euro-American settlers.
Over some 200 acres of tuff (volcanic ash) outcrops is a
landscape that records the mundane and ceremonial lives of
ancient hunter-gatherers. Whether ancient peoples were drawn
to Shooting Gallery for economic or cultural reasons, the
archaeology found here sheds light on the various social and
practical meanings that landscapes have for cultures.
Hunter-gatherers made short-duration visits repeated over
millennia to Shooting Gallery, leaving behind rock art and the
remains of daily life. Making a living in this area required deep
knowledge of the environment’s plant and animal resources. This
included knowing when was the best time to relocate campsites
to take advantage of seasonally available resources.
The Shooting Gallery area was used as far back as 6,000 years
ago but was most intensively visited during the past 3,000 years.
Small groups of related households visited the area to hunt,
gather wild plants, and to make and use rock art. During the
winter, family households congregated with other households in
large lowland villages.
Evidence of these visits is dotted around Shooting Gallery’s
rugged landscape. Ancient projectile points, small stone chips or
flakes, pottery sherds, and grinding slicks may be encountered in
the area. Dart points and, later, arrow points were used to hunt
animals, either by groups of hunters or by a solitary hunter. The
stone flakes were left over from making or maintaining stone
tools that were used for hunting, butchering, preparing hides,
and a range of cutting activities. Pottery was used for storing dry
foodstuffs and cooking. Grinding tools (either as heavy stone
1
Rock Art of Lincoln County
In troduc tio n
slabs or on bedrock) were used for processing hard seeds and
plants by grinding or pounding.
These artifacts provide archaeologists with important clues
about how prehistoric peoples made a living, the chronology
of these activities, and their cultures. The significance of these
artifacts derives from where they are found. If they are removed
without proper study, they no longer communicate important
archaeological information. Remember to leave in place
whatever you may encounter so that future generations can also
experience the thrill of discovery. This ensures that the area’s
cultural heritage will continue to tell its story to visitors and
archaeologists.
Two styles of rock art can be found at Shooting Gallery.
The most common is Basin and Range tradition abstract and
representational designs. This style may be as much as 10,000
years old and continued to be made by Native American
cultures into the nineteenth century. Composed of a wide range
of curvilinear and rectilinear abstract designs, this style also
includes stick-figure anthropomorphs and naturalistic depictions
of a range of animal species. The most common animal
portrayed is the bighorn sheep figures and Shooting Gallery
2
Shooting Gallery
In troduc tio n
contains one of the largest concentrations of bighorn sheep
figures in southeastern Nevada. Hundreds of portrayals of this
animal can be seen singly or in groups on Shooting Gallery’s tuff
outcrops.
The Pahranagat Anthropomorph Style is found in small
numbers at Shooting Gallery and is unique to Lincoln County.
It comprises two schematic ways of depicting people with either
decorated rectangular bodies (often without heads) or as solidpecked oval or rectangular bodies with heads that have a short
line protruding from their top. Both the decorated rectangular
type (or pattern-body anthropomorph [PBA]) and solid-body
type are found in the Shooting Gallery area. This style may be as
old as 6,000 years in age but appears to have been mostly made
from around 3,000-800 years ago.
The largest rock art concentrations (Shooting Gallery I-III)
are clustered on the northwest side of the canyon. Much smaller
rock art sites are found father south along the slopes of the
canyon. These concentrations blend together and can be found
by looking for prominent outcrops in the landscape. There is no
developed trail in the area so the modern visitor discovers these
sites in much the same way as the ancient artists. §
3
Rock Art of Lincoln County
Da i l y Life an d Roc k Art
T
he intermixing of rock art and campsites provides
important clues on past landscape use. Without the ancient
artists to tell us, the exact meanings that rock art had in the past
are unknowable. Yet, rock art shows that prehistoric hunter-
gatherers viewed their landscapes in economic and cultural
terms.
Cultures rec