Note: The first five photos in this post are very similar; I explain their significance in the story below. If you’re not up to a lot of reading, please feel free to go straight past them to the section titled More Petroglyphs.
I Learned Something New
Back in March of 2012, I joined a group hike to see an equinox petroglyph at El Malpais. The ranger who led the hike explained that a shadow crosses a square spiral petroglyph at midday on the equinox. I took a photo that day that looked much like the one below; it was several days before the spring equinox.
The hike out to the petroglyphs was fairly convoluted and I was quite sure I’d never be able to find the place on my own. However, in 2021 I found a source from which I could download a GPS track to the area.1 A friend and I finally succeeded in getting up to the petroglyphs on September 25th last year, just a few days after the autumnal equinox (photo above).2
On September 22nd of this year, I took another friend out to see the equinox shadow. We were closer to the actual equinox than I’d been before — only about 12 hours away from it. The photo below shows the closest the shadow ever got to bisecting the square spiral, at 12:40. I had imagined that the diagonal across the spiral would be more precise since we were closer to the equinox, but instead it looked more or less like a random shadow. To say I was surprised would be an understatement.
I mentioned to my friend that I’d never seen the shadow go past the critter beneath the spiral and we agreed to continue watching its movement. Eventually we realized that the shadow was precisely parallel to the critter’s tail and, at exactly 1:01, the tail and the shadow became one.3
By that time, my friend and I had begun to see a petroglyph I’d never noticed previously, one that was immediately above the tail. We waited as the shadow passed that one as well, while speculating about what it represented. A lizard? A human? I personally would like to believe it’s a woman giving birth. But who knows really?
I am now completely convinced that this group of petroglyphs does indeed show midday on the equinox — but with the critter’s tail, not the spiral. I’m baffled about why the El Malpais ranger told us otherwise back in 2012. And I’m a bit annoyed with myself for only having seen what I expected to see the first couple of times I visited near the equinox.
More Petroglyphs
The equinox petroglyphs are high on a rocky ledge in the Cebolla Wilderness4 and are the smallest part of one of the most beautiful petroglyph panels I’ve ever seen.
Because the ledge is fairly narrow — and also because of a tree that throws shadows on the panel — it’s virtually impossible to get a shot of this portion straight on. I’m especially fascinated by the upper part, which looks almost like a decorative border of spirals and steps.
The photo above shows the third part of the panel, once again with spirals but with a checkerboard instead of stairs.
Finally, the image above shows one of three entirely different petroglyph panels several miles away from the equinox petroglyphs.5 I’m intrigued by the repetition of spirals and steps in this panel as well. Did the same artist create both? Or was one of the artists inspired by an earlier work (and, if so, which came first)? Did they have a meaning that I can’t begin to comprehend? Or are they simply beautiful pieces of art, created solely for their own sake?
The petroglyphs here are considered protected so I won’t share their specific location.
There’s no clear trail to these petroglyphs. I’d never in a million years be able to find them without GPS and, in fact, I made innumerable wrong turns the first time I tried.
During Daylight Savings Time, midday is at 1pm.
Cebolla means onion in Spanish. (Pronounced suh-BOY-uh.)
For some reason, the second set of petroglyph panels — which I think are equally spectacular — are not considered protected.
Yes, so many questions about who and why? We will have to rest in our wonder. And just enjoy the beauty.
Wonderful write-up on these particular petroglyphs, Lisa! I've always been fascinated by these ancient works of art/science (as the ancients understood them). That last Cebolla panel is amazing! I agree with the idea of the woman giving birth as I've seen several like it before.