01/11/2008
Before we started traveling the Southwest I always thought petroglyphs and petrographs were few and rare. Boy was I mistaken. The Native Americans were prolific artists and there are many, many sites where these symbols have been preserved.
The area around Palatki (Hopi for red rock) has seen human habitation for about 6,000 years so some of this artwork is quite old.
Although early settlers did unearth many objects in the dwelling ruins they seemed to have respect for the area and left much of it as they found it.
The Palatki site is an easy to get to site with some different wall art and a bit of the Sanagua ruins still left.
The walls were huge at one time, but the years have taken their toll.
Many of the petroglyphs are hard to see, but you'd be pretty faded too after a couple thousand years.
Palatki Sign
The first of the glyphs or graphs. I like the Pippi Longstockings in the lower left
It's unusual to find the artwork in black
An old settler's home just up the ledge from the wall art
A little paint, some curtains, fix the fireplace and it's a summer cabin!
Some of the Palatki ruins.
From what's left of the towers these were several stories at one time
More ruins tucked away
