Rock Art

Texas’ Oldest “Books”

5,000 years of history painted on the rock walls of Southwest Texas

by Jessica Lee Hamlin

here’s no better way to peer T into the distant past than to walk into a rock shelter in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands, just west of Del Rio. The concave limestone walls are covered in ancient paint. There are over 300 murals, in fact, painted between 5,000 and 1,000 years ago. Now a National Historic Landmark, these Texas murals are on par with the famous paleolithic paintings in the French caves of Lascaux and Chauvet.

Don’t believe me? Ask the French!

Dr. Jean Clottes himself, a prominent French prehistorian, visited Texas and proclaimed, “It is my considered opinion – after having seen rock art on all continents – that the Pecos River rock art is second to none and ranks among the top bodies of rock art anywhere in the world.” That’s right, Texas’ ancient art is up there with the best in the world. You don’t have to get on a plane to see ancient wonders, just hop in the car!

Pecos River Style art is highly complex, multi-colored and often monumental. It takes scaffolding to document and study the paintings, just as it took scaffolding to paint them thousands of years ago. What’s more, the art depicts beliefs and rituals that closely parallel those of the Aztec people who lived in Mexico and Central America long after the art in Texas was painted. Just like an Aztec codex, the Pecos River Style murals are compositions painted to communicate. They are like books. Books we are learning to read.

(above left) Shumla’s Veronica Hackett demonstrates the joy of seeing the art for yourself. (above right) Dr. Carolyn Boyd (Texas State University) and Dr. Phil Dering (Shumla) gather data for a recent project. (above) From left: Dr. Diana Radillo Rolon, Ashely Busby, Seamus Anderson and Dr Carolyn Boyd gather data for a recent project. | Photos courtesy Shumla

At Shumla Archaeological Research & Education Center (or just Shumla), we work to preserve this critically endangered library of ancient “books” through documentation, research, stewardship and education. Shumla founder Dr. Carolyn Boyd, now an endowed professor at Texas State University, and her students are deciphering the meanings of the murals through archaeological science, formal art analysis and indigenous consultation. And archaeological chemist Dr. Karen Steelman uses advanced chemistry and a process called plasma oxidation in her lab at Shumla to study and radiocarbon date the paint.

Everything we discover about the art increases our amazement at the skill of the archaic artists and the richness of their culture and beliefs. But you don’t have to take my word for it. You can come experience the art for yourself! Shumla offers guided treks to rock art sites through our Shumla Treks program. You will trek with a Shumla archaeologist and have the benefit of the 25 years of study and experience as you encounter the mind-blowing art and landscape of the Lower Pecos Canyonlands. Our wonderful partners at Seminole Canyon State Park and the Witte Museum also offer rock art tours. This is one library that no one in your family could call boring or stuffy.

DON’T MISS

Shumla Archaeological Research and Education Center 28 Langtry St. Comstock, TX 78837 (432)292-4848 info@shumla.org shumla.org

Visit the Rock Art with Shumla Treks Trek itineraries, schedules and registration are available at: shumla.org/shumlatreks

OTHER PLACES TO SEE ROCK ART IN TEXAS

by Margaret Hoogstra

White Shaman Preserve of the Witte Museum

Established in 1926 with an extensive natural history collection, the Witte Museum in San Antonio has a long history with the Canyonlands of the Lower Pecos. The Witte Museum supported and staffed archeological expeditions throughout Texas in the 1930s. Research, study and excavation in the canyons of the Lower Pecos area and Big Bend region led to important findings and an increase in the Witte’s collections and exhibits. Today, the Witte houses more than 20,000 artifacts from these ancient historic sites and their collections are considered the finest of their kind in the world.

From early Fall to late Spring the Witte provides weekly tours for the public to visit the White Shaman Preserve; public tours to other sites in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands are offered at various times during the year.

A tour of the White Shaman Preserve involves a two-hour trek through a landscape filled with Chihuahuan Desert plants and stunning views of the Pecos River where it converges with the Rio Grande. The Preserve is one of the most remarkable and well-photographed rock art sites in the Lower Pecos.

Painted thousands of years ago, the White Shaman mural’s meaning and the techniques used to create it have been the subject of intense research and many publications.

Reservations are required and spaces are limited. Participants must be ages 12 & up. All minors must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.

The Witte Museum

3801 Broadway Street San Antonio, TX 78209 (210) 357-1900 wittemuseum.org See rock art excursion details at: wittemuseum.org/white-shaman-preserve. For reservations, call (210) 357-1910.

Hueco Tanks – El Paso

Roughly 30 miles east of El Paso, the Hueco Tanks State Park is a high-altitude desert basin set between the Franklin Mountains and the Hueco Mountains. Hueco is the Spanish word for hollows and refers to the numerous depressions and deep natural cisterns in the boulders and rock faces in the region.

Inhabited for more than 10,000 years, the area has an abundant and varied assortment of pictographs and petroglyphs that provide clues to the activities and lives of those earlier peoples. Images include geometric designs, handprints, birds, horses, dancing figures and more. Hueco Tanks has the largest grouping of “mask” or face design paintings. The Kiowa, Mescalero Apache, Comanche, Tigua and the people of Isleta del Norte Pueblo consider the area to be culturally and spiritually significant.

To protect and preserve this unique area and its fragile resources while also providing public access, park visitation is limited. Guided tours are offered Wednesday through Sunday if a guide is available; advance reservations are needed. Selfguided tours are also available.

Hueco Tanks State Park

6900 Hueco Tanks Road No. 1 El Paso, TX 79938 (915) 857-1135 tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/ hueco-tanks Call (512) 389-8911 to reserve a day for your visit. Before your visit, call (915) 849-6684 to make arrangements for a guided tour.

Seminole Canyon State Park & Historic Site

Just east of the Pecos River Bridge, the Seminole Canyon State Park is located 9 miles west of Comstock on U.S. Hwy 90. Near the confluence of the Pecos River with the Rio Grande River, portions of the park are on the Rio Grande River. Seminole Canyon and the state park are named in honor of the U.S. Army Seminole-Negro Scouts that were stationed at Fort Clark between 1872 and 1914.

According to the park’s interpretive guide, prehistoric peoples “left their mark in several ways, most notably through rock paintings called pictographs. The park contains some of the most outstanding examples not only in Texas, but in the world. Extensive pictographs of the Lower Pecos River Style, attributed to the Middle Archaic period of 4,000 years ago, adorn rock-shelters throughout its canyons.”

In addition to the tours offered by Shumla, the following guided hiking tours to remote rock art sites are available with park rangers: the Fate Bell Shelter Tour; the Presa Day Hike; and the Upper Canyon Hike. When planning a trip to Seminole Canyon State Park, be sure to call the state park customer service center to make a reservation and consult the online visitation guidelines and details.

Seminole Canyon State Park & Historic Site

P.O. Box 820 Comstock, TX 77837 (432) 292-4464 tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/ seminole-canyon To guarantee park entry, call (512) 3898900 to make reservations for your visit.