How old are the petroglyphs at Newspaper Rock?
between 650 and 2,000 years ago
The petroglyphs were created by ancestral Puebloan people living, farming, and hunting along the Puerco River between 650 and 2,000 years ago. Some of the ancient artists may have lived at Puerco Pueblo, located less than one mile north of this site.
Are newspaper rocks worth it?
Newspaper Rock! Newspaper Rock is located just outside the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. It is worth the 10 minute stop if you are heading to Needles, and it may be the highlight of your trip out this way.
Why is it called Newspaper Rock?
In fact, in Navajo, the rock is called Tse’ Hone, or “rock that tells a story.” The name Newspaper Rock is owed to that fact that certain areas seem to depict narratives that tell a story, making the rock a visual journal of important events.
Do historians know what the petroglyphs at Newspaper Rock mean?
Native Americans have been engraving and drawing on Newspaper Rock for more than 2,000 years. Their markings tell the stories, hunting patterns, crop cycles, and mythologies of their lives. But what exactly they were communicating, we’ll never know, for there is no actual translation available.
Why was Newspaper Rock created?
One suggested explanation is that the rock was used as a place for communication through the petroglyphs between travelers. The pictures at Newspaper Rock were inscribed into the dark coating on the rock, called desert varnish.
Who discovered Newspaper Rock?
According to our most reliable evidence, the first petroglyphs on Newspaper Rock were carved around 2000 years ago by people from the Navajo, Anasazi, Fremont, Pueblo, Anglo and Archaic cultures. In Navajo, this site is called “Tse’ Hone’”, which describes a rock that tells a story.
Is Newspaper Rock in Canyonlands National Park?
Newspaper Rock is located just outside the entrance to the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park in Indian Creek – a BLM region popular with rock climbers. It’s a short walk from the roadside parking and is one of the largest-known collections of petroglyphs in the country.
Is Newspaper Rock in Bears Ears?
Perched just above the banks of Indian Creek at the eastern edge of the Bears Ears National Monument, a large flat rock panel tucked under a small overhang preserves the stories of people who lived in and passed through this area for the past five centuries.
What National Park is Newspaper Rock in?
Canyonlands National Park
Formerly a state park, Newspaper Rock is now designated a State Historical Monument, and is situated along the relatively well-traveled access road into the Needles district of Canyonlands National Park, 12 miles from US 191 and 30 miles from the park boundary.