I attended a ranger program recently dealing with Leave No Trace. The ranger showed a picture of rock art, or “ancestral inscriptions” as archaeologists often refer to the practice.
I attended a ranger program recently dealing with Leave No Trace. The ranger showed a picture of rock art, or “ancestral inscriptions” as archaeologists often refer to the practice.
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By Marjorie âSlimâ Woodruff
I attended a ranger program recently dealing with Leave No Trace. The ranger showed a picture of rock art, or âancestral inscriptionsâ as archaeologists often refer to the practice.
We agreed that one does not touch or otherwise deface it. Then she flashed a shot of some modern graffiti nearby â think of a heart, two names and the word âforever.â âIs this OK?â
âNoâ was the reaction that came easily from all of us. âBut why? Isnât it just modern rock art?â she asked.
Indeed. Why are 800-year-old handprints sacrosanct, but not if hacked onto rock walls on public land today? At Capitol Reef National Park in Utah, 19th century pioneers scratched their names and the date into the rocks. Why is this a no-no for the modern visitor?