Ease Reading-Find Your Next Favorite Book

Hot Search

A Field Guide to Rock Art Symbols of the Greater Southwest

alex patterson

... Show More
This is the first specifically designed key to the interpretation of American rock art. Interest in the subject has grown significantly among professional archaeologists and informed lay persons in recent years, but the purpose and meaning that the intriguing symbols had for their creators remain a mystery. Although the significance of the symbols will never be known for certain, educated guesses can be made. The Field Guide brings together 600 commentaries on specific symbols by over one hundred archaeologists, anthropologists, researchers, and Native American informants. Intended to be used in the field, as well as a reference, the book includes a pictorial key at the beginning and is organized by tentative meaning or by description. The reader can easily find the one or several of the 500 illustrations that most closely match the symbol in question. Patterson emphasizes the tentative nature of the interpretations and has included an index by neutral archaeological description as well as complete documentation of every excerpted comment. The range of the book is from the northern states of Mexico to Utah and from California to Colorado.

256 pages, Paperback

First published May 1,1992

This edition

Format
256 pages, Paperback
Published
May 1, 1992 by Johnson Books
ISBN
9781555660918
ASIN
1555660916
Language
English

More editions

About the author

Profile Image for alex patterson

alex patterson

... Show More
Alexander Evans Patterson, Jr. was born at New York Hospital, September 16th, 1923.He attended Lawrenceville and Princeton, and served in the Air Force in World War II, where he flew the P-51 "Mustang", among other aircraft. He enjoyed a distinguished career at IBM World Trade where he rose to Sr. VP and later, as Exec. VP at GTE, where he served as head of sales for Latin America and the Far East. In the early 1960's, Alex was the first developer to build condominiums in the Virgin Islands and later, he developed Meadgate on Milbank Avenue in Greenwich, which won a national architecture award. After he retired from business, he re-educated himself as an anthropologist and authored two books, A Field Guide to Rock Art of the Greater Southwest and Hopi Pottery Symbols. A Field Guide has been reprinted 17 times, with over 93,000 copies in print, and can be found in most of the National Monument Parks of the southwest. He served actively on the boards of Gallaudet University and Air Quality Sciences. Patterson, 91, passed away Tuesday, March 24, 2015 at the Greens in Wilton.

Readers also enjoyed

Community Reviews

Rating(4 / 5.0, 7 votes)
5 stars
3(43%)
4 stars
1(14%)
3 stars
3(43%)
2 stars
0(0%)
1 stars
0(0%)
7 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
yurichuuwu
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 26,2025
... Show More
Excellent reference books on rock drawings and petroglyphs of the Southwest. Packed with line drawings and photographs, the book is divided into subjects (lizard, clouds, spiral) in alphabetical order.

Each tribal meaning is also listed, so one symbol can mean different things to different tribes. And some of the pictographs have never been assigned a meaning.

It's a thoroughly researched book, well done and clear. It belongs in every hikers shelf and every historians reference list.
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
MiyawakiChirisa
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 26,2025
... Show More
Given the prevalence of rock art in the Southwest (USA), it’s striking how little is known about its meaning. As with Schaafsma’s comprehensive work on rock art, this book is mainly a descriptive cataloging of symbols (arrows, horns, flute players, family, rain, corn, etc), arranged alphabetically. The descriptions offer plausible explanations, with the caveat that these are, at heart, best guesses. It could be that a good part of these symbols have no meaning other than that they are representations of important aspects of Indian life - water, animals, the hunt, and various food sources. In that regard, it could be - for its time - a peek into the life and times of Indians and it is not more complicated than that. Still, there are clues that some of the symbols seen are more complex, especially when it comes to Shamanism that this book references throughout.
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Emanharlem55
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 26,2025
... Show More
There is Rock Art all around Tucson. I've actually interpreted at least one by using this book!
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
f1m0se
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 26,2025
... Show More
I think this is a classic read, no longer published, for those interested in native americans, writing, communication, symbols, non-textual literacy, the American West, and pre-history for the Americas. He was a thinker, not an "educated" author and in a place that ivy anthropologists and archeologists came to dominate, this is a varied approach from a non-traditional authority.
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Ochinchinfactory
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
March 26,2025
... Show More
Interpreting rock art is always difficult but at least there are some good illustrations in here.
0 0 Reply
Leave a Review
You must be logged in to rate and post a review. Register an account to get started.