Beauty is all around us, you merely have to choose to see it. We were fortunate enough to visit Three Rivers Petroglyph Site, another Bureau of Land Management site in New Mexico. I have been to many of the well-known petroglyph sites in the United States and a couple lesser known locations. Three Rivers is by far the most amazing. They have the most petroglyphs, the clearest petroglyphs and because it is BLM land, you can get up close and personal with the glyphs.
Rugged natural beauty of the high desert
Three Rivers is approximately mid-way between Carrizozo and Alamagordo NM on Highway 54. As such, the beauty of snow capped mountains, lava flows (el Mapais, Valley of Fires as in our previous post that can be read here) ,white sand (and White Sand Missle Range) is all around you.
I have a love for the high desert and this area does not disapoint. Do not be decieved, there is life and beauty all around you in these areas. It is not a barren, life-less wasteland as some would assume.
Ancient Native Americans lived in this beauty
The Natives who lived in this area were here approximately from 200-1450 AD. They were the Jornada Mogollon people. What I find facinating is that instead of adding paint to the rocks, they removed the darkened exterior of the rock to leave behind a lighter area. This has enabled the extreme longevity and sharpness of their work to remain.
This area was a lush valley during that time (the lava flow was already in place, but probably served as a deterrent for people coming from the west). There were, in fact, 3 rivers flowing out of the mountains during this time and the Mongollan peoples actually dammed up one of the rivers to create an open reservoir to the north of where the current visitor center sits. This enabled them to have a watersource year round!
Glyphs are everywhere!
There is a short dirt/rock/gravel path that runs out 0.5 miles and comes back on a slight loop, so 1 mile in total. Continuing from that path is an extension that goes another 0.5 miles out, and still more less-travelled paths further out (we will be going back!) There were more glyphs concentrated along this ridgeline than we had ever seen. The beauty of the landscape can not be over stated.
The first ones you start to see in abundance are below. We thought they may represent doors or windows to the underworld, otherworld, something in their mythology. Let me know what you think they may represent!
They created what they saw
There was a simplicity and raw beauty in some of the images. This was especially evident in the ones involving land animals and some fish. We saw fish, lizards, rams, potentially deer, and some unidentifiable animals represented here. Let us know what you all make of these!
They appreciated the beauty of the night sky…I think
There are several representations of what we believe to be the sun, as well as potential constellations. These appear throughout the park and are unbelievably clear. It is stunning, full of beauty and obviously important to the ancient people that lived here to be so painstakingly created in so many different art peices.
The Beauty is there, but what the heck is it?
There were several that obviously depict something, but what? Your guess is a as good (if not better) than ours. Sierra just kept saying “Ancient alien consipracy theorist say yes”, hahahaha. Some of it is easily reconizable, some is easily misidenitifed for something it can’t be and some of it is recognizable for something but how did they see it to carve it?
So many picture (and petroglyphs), so little time!
We hope you enjoyed the picture dump, and it is by no means all of the photos we took there. It is a fascinating place. If you want to discuss any photo in particular, drop us a comment. If you are new to us, check out our archives, or even subscribe by listing your email address (it only goes to the bot that controls this blog). Be sure to like our post and you can always follow us on FB (same name) or Instagram (my account – stevenholland.nomad).
