Petroglyph found, help me figure it out

Gold Maven

Bronze Member
Jul 4, 2012
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Holmes County Ohio
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Tesoro Lobo
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I found this on private land in New Mexico.

There is a crack in this large caliche out cropping that has been walled up, except for a small hole at the top.

The drawing is beside this hole, obviously an ambush spot, but the tree in front of the hole tells me that it was long ago when you could see through to the canyon.

The drawing looks like a pig snouted animal, with long shaggy hair.....hands above it.....tree branch beside it......?

It's only about 2" x 1".

What's your take on it? Thanks.

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Pull the rocks back with a stick, Don't want anything to jump out and bite your hand. Look inside the hole and tell us what's in it? Could be nothing or could be ???
 

Cool, Gold Maven, and good eye for spotting that out in the field. It's considered a 'pictograph' as it's painted on. Native petroglyphs and pictographs had many meanings. Sometimes they were actually directional signs, like where water was, or the trail to a village. Sometimes they represented visions from the spirit world that only the artist understood. And you see some that are plainly like, hey, look at this cool elk I drew! I'm havin trouble makin this one out, so I don't have any opinion. I would suggest you post this in the treasure signs and symbols forum and let those guys take a look at it.
 

Pull the rocks back with a stick, Don't want anything to jump out and bite your hand. Look inside the hole and tell us what's in it? Could be nothing or could be ???

It's just a small window to the canyon beyond. A great place to stick a rifle through, except there is a juniper in the way. If that's what it was used for, by the size of the tree, it was used as a hunting blind a long time ago.
 

Cool, Gold Maven, and good eye for spotting that out in the field. It's considered a 'pictograph' as it's painted on. Native petroglyphs and pictographs had many meanings. Sometimes they were actually directional signs, like where water was, or the trail to a village. Sometimes they represented visions from the spirit world that only the artist understood. And you see some that are plainly like, hey, look at this cool elk I drew! I'm havin trouble makin this one out, so I don't have any opinion. I would suggest you post this in the treasure signs and symbols forum and let those guys take a look at it.

Tried to edit to 'pictograph' but I guess you can't change the title. Thanks for the info.
 

Might be his "Trophy Picture". A guess. TTC
 

Nice pic Mavan, I see a lot of thingsIMG_20130930_215902.jpgthere is a "hyro" arrow, I have noticed, not always looking through is the case, sometimes it points, follow the hyro. Top left, of hyro triangle, above is (N). The (N),is part of the owls ear. And, if you want to go deeper, the hyro hole is the beak, of another,owl, following the (N)line,to the white face profile,to find faces look for the Eye. any whey, cool stuff, good luck. JustintimeIMG_20130930_220015.jpgIMG_20130930_222358.jpg8-)
 

Nice pic Mavan, I see a lot of thingsView attachment 873724there is a "hyro" arrow, I have noticed, not always looking through is the case, sometimes it points, follow the hyro. Top left, of hyro triangle, above is (N). The (N),is part of the owls ear. And, if you want to go deeper, the hyro hole is the beak, of another,owl, following the (N)line,to the white face profile,to find faces look for the Eye. any whey, cool stuff, good luck. JustintimeView attachment 873725View attachment 8737278-)

The coolest thing about this rock, was how it glowed in the moon light. It was a fulll moon when we were, the rock is about 400 yds from my buddies cabin, and when I stepped outside to take a pee after dark, I couldn't believe how the moon lit it up.

It's a light colored rock, with dark pines around it, but it looked luminescent....I just stood and stared for the longest time, it did not seem natural, but I'm sure it was.
 

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Hey it spelled HOYO...for second time and you do not look thru them as a matter of rule, IT IS THE OUTLINE~dont usually point either and you dont measure...it is just repeat the OUTLINE of the HOYO where the data is contained.. a better shot..closer to the hoyo to show the outline better for better diagnosis...in the earlier photo I saw the very well hidden owl head..so this is looking like a real monument,...again a better pic would show if the paredolia owl that justinetime drew on the large hoyo boulder...if the owl body can be confirmed you only need one more element to confirm a Alpha Monument..and I am willing to bet that this area is old time mining and mineral country..
oro bro
rangler
 

Good to see this post over here in this forum. No big deal about pictograph or petroglyph, just a minor distinction. I still can't make it out real well, but in my opinion that's not a depiction of an elk. I've seen lots of rock art and I can't relate it to anything I've seen. Most of the elk I've seen have the antlers raked back along the body with about 30 points or so along the main branches. Could mean somethin they dreamed, a little enhanced advertising for the area, or somehow they channeled the da yuppers '30 point buck' track. I think the whole thing may be Spanish.
 

If you look through the hole what do you see? I would go to what you see through it just to see if it leads to something else?
 

the hoyo is too high off the ground to be used that way....and hoyos are not about l ooking thru them..that is the result of using simple logic at a complex set of clues..the OUTLINE of the hoyo is the important part..a closer pic will show theoutline....for what it is shaped like...in this photo it is too small to tell with any accuracy..kapish?
and that hole that is filed with stones..it might be an omega hoyo..are t here any elements or faces or heads or owl ears around in the rock at this hoyo..
if it is a true ground hoyo..it might have been filled by someone who know what it was and wanted to hide it from other...
forget about ancient ambush spot..there are millions of those around every bend in the trail...this is a monument I am sure.just need better pics at the correct time of day..firstly around noon to 1pm..lthen if we got something try at the 430to 6ps time slot for later shadows to develop..
oro for only the truly informed
rangler
 

I've got some more pics at work, I'll post them tomorrow. The hole is at eye level, I thought it was a little high to stick a rifle through, and the drawing probably pre dates rifles any way.

this is exciting....can't wait to see what you guys can make out with more pics.

I had my metal detector along, and checked around the base, it looked like a possible cache site, there was a lot of junk metal, old bed springs, cans, but no good deep signals.
 

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I've got some more pics at work, I'll post them tomorrow. The hole is at eye level, I thought it was a little high to stick a rifle through, and the drawing probably pre dates rifles any way.

this is exciting....can't wait to see what you guys can make out with more pics.

I had my metal detector along, and checked around the base, it looked like a possible cache site, there was a lot of junk metal, old bed springs, cans, but no good deep signals.

Gold maven, i believe you have faint carvings in the area of the red stuff. There is a possibility you were meant to see more than the red stuff. If so, then the crack may be topographic in nature.

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I thought I had some better pics, but this is it.

The vertical crack runs through the rock, and the walled up part is at ground level. The drawing is on the right side of the little face sized window, about 5 1/2 ft off the ground. The rock is about 50 to 60 ft. high.

Thanks for your comments.
 

Some spaces are meant to looked through, some are natural, some are a side effect of how rocks were placed. Some may be used in other ways. Sometimes it is the shape of the rocks around the hoyo that is the message. In general, these are hoyos in that they make a window of sorts and draw your attention. On tnet hoyo has come to mean a general term of an opening framed by rocks.

They are used a few different ways.

So..it never hurts to take a peek through one if it is accessible. You may be surprised at what you see. For others that are not somewhat accessible it may not be a peek through sort of hoyo.

Remember too that "showing air" was a requirement for some trail markers. I think there is something on that in Old Dogs thread.
 

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