Hidden Petroglyphs

Two sets of Indian carvings, or petroglyhs, have been found in the Garden of the Gods.

The first set is well hidden and protected in a narrow crevice on the east side of South Gateway Rock. It includes a circular, shield-like figure, divided into four parts; a rain-cloud terrace; an image of the familiar thunderbird; zig-zag lines; some wheat or perhaps a stalk of corn; and a faint, flower-like symbol, with a dozen dots in a semi-circle over the top.

One Colorado rock art expert believes that nearly all of these images are of relatively recent Euro-American design. Nearly all were engraved within the last 100 years by someone copying Indian designs from experience or books. The one authentic-looking image is the shield. It appears to have a somewhat different technique of manufacture and to show greater evidence of weathering. It looks a great deal like the petroglyph shields found in Cart le Gardens, Wyoming. The latter are of early historic Shoshonean origin, although the Utes also depicted similar shields after A.D. 1600.

Hidden Petroglyphs in the Garden of the Gods

The second set of petroglyphs are not incised or grooved but rather pecked into the rock. They were discovered in the late 1980's by a young firefighter from Fort Carson. In 1993 they were analyzed by an archaeologist hired by the Colorado Springs Park and Recreation Department. He estimated their age as about 1500 A.D. and their origin as of Ute Indian design. One petroglyph seems to represent the sun, another a deer, the third a buffalo head, and the fourth perhaps a stone tool or even - as some have suggested - a religious symbol such as the thunderbird. The entire panel of petroglyphs seems to tell a story, the meaning of which is now forever hidden in the long ago and far away.