Rock Art or Forgetful Teachers?
So I went hiking last weekend with my dad and my two oldest kids. We were able to explore several different areas in South-eastern Utah - around the Canyonlands and Goblin Valley regions of the state.
Absolutely amazing.
I am fascinated by the desert and the way life manages to survive - so much like our students (lol). I am also amazed at the array of geological features present in Utah. From mountains to deserts to canyons to cities, this state has it all.
While hiking through the Horseshoe Canyon section of Canyonlands National Park, we were able to take in several different panels of pictographs (pictographs are painted on the rock, while petroglyphs are etched into the stone). The pictographs in this area are in very good shape and have several unique characteristics. One set is somehow located nearly thirty feet above ground-level. How they managed to reach that high is beyond me.
This particular set of drawings (below) is a part of what is called "the Great Gallery". I find it intriguing that "experts" still don't understand what most of the drawings mean or why they are there in the first place.
Personally, I don't see what the big deal is. Any teacher can easily see that such drawings are simply the remains of several ancient classrooms. Clearly, these particular pictographs are evidence that the teachers, as teachers often do, hurriedly forgot to erase the board.
Image sources - Me (You're going to have to trust me on this one. I realize that there is a photo very similar to mine on Wikipedia, but I took these myself. Honest.)
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