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'The largest art gallery in the United States': 'Blurred Boundaries' explores the sacred petroglyphs of the Southwest
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Throughout the arid landscapes of the American West, Native Americans created haunting, mysterious imagery on stone.
Santa Fe photographer William Frej scoured and hiked throughout New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Texas, Wyoming, Utah and Baja California in 2021 to capture these sacred petroglyphs in black and white. That journey produced the book 鈥淏lurred Boundaries: Perspectives on Rock Art of the Greater Southwest鈥� (Museum of New Mexico Press.)
鈥淭o me, it鈥檚 just the largest art gallery in the United States,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here are millions of rock art panels in the U.S.鈥�
The project began as an escape from the pandemic.
鈥淭he impetus behind this book was COVID and being trapped in our house in Santa Fe,鈥� he said.
Frej and his wife Anne spent much of two years hunting down petroglyphs with the help of research, Google Maps and websites.
鈥淚鈥檝e had a lifelong interest in rock art, starting in Arizona where I was going to architectural school,鈥� he said.
'The largest art gallery in the United States': 'Blurred Boundaries' explores the sacred petroglyphs of the Southwest
Then Frej met the archaeologist and author Polly Schaafsma, a leading authority on pre-Hispanic Native rock art and kiva murals. Schaafsma, a research associate at the Laboratory of Anthropology/Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, penned the book鈥檚 text, adding clues to the symbolism.
鈥淚t鈥檚 all open to interpretation,鈥� Frej said. 鈥淰ery little is known about the creators of rock art in the Southwest. I wish we knew more, but we know Native Americans have a number of meanings for rock art, especially in the pueblos.鈥�
The photographs set the petroglyphs against their surrounding landscapes, most identified only by state for protection. A Native American friend from the New Mexico Office of Archaeological Studies guided the photographer鈥檚 approach.
鈥淪he said, 鈥楧on鈥檛 only look inward at the panel,鈥� 鈥� Frej said. 鈥淟ook outward to see its place in the landscape.鈥�
In northern New Mexico鈥檚 Largo Canyon, a panel scribbled with moccasins and turkey tracks reveals the importance of birds in Native culture. A landscape of rocks and mesas beckons in the distance.
Birds play a critical role, Schaafsma said. The duck-headed figures regularly depicted in rock art are actually shamans, she said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an extension of supernatural flight or travel,鈥� she explained. 鈥淭hey migrate and they鈥檙e very fast travelers.
鈥淭oday at Zuni, it is said the kachinas fly in as ducks.鈥�
Macaws and turkeys also figure prominently.
In the ancient Basketmaker culture, birds provided access to the supernatural realm, she said.
鈥淭hey are messengers from the spirit world to our world. All animals have roles to play in maintaining cosmic balance.鈥�
Hands decorate another New Mexico site.
鈥淚t was on a magnificent high ridge,鈥� Frej said. 鈥淭he story of that specific panel is very significant as a guidepost to a very sacred site.鈥�
The hand is a universal motif that can assume a number of meanings. The site鈥檚 timeline dates to the 14th century.
Near the entrance to Arizona鈥檚 Petrified Forest National Park juts a triangular rock, its face swirling with a spiral.
鈥淚t鈥檚 about a 3陆-to 4-mile hike in,鈥� Frej said. 鈥淵ou can feel that this is a very sacred site. Spirals are very important; they have a water meaning and a marking of place. You鈥檒l see concentric circles also.鈥�
Archaeologists attribute southern Utah鈥檚 Newspaper Rock to the regional Utes. Horses, bison, game animals, pelts and bear tracks scatter across the surface.
鈥淚t鈥檚 50 by 20 feet,鈥� Frej said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very close to the entrance of Canyonlands National Park.鈥�
The oldest drawings date back 2,000 to 3,000 years; the most recent are 300 to 400 years old, Frej said.
鈥淭here鈥檚 also a number of Basketmaker images on that panel that would be 1,600 to 1,200 years old,鈥� he added.
鈥淭hey kept adding to it,鈥� Frej said. 鈥淚t really tells the history from the beginning of rock art in this country before pre-colonial times.鈥�
The Basketmaker culture began about 1,500 B.C. and continued until about A.D. 750 with the beginning of the Pueblo I Era. Scholars named this prehistoric American Southwestern culture 鈥淏asketmaker鈥� for the large number of baskets found at archaeological sites of 3,000 to 2,000 years ago.
Scientists and people from Western cultures often want clear-cut explanations for the images and figures in rock art. There are none, Schaafsma said.
Interpretations of the oft-appearing spiral vary, depending on who is speaking, she said.
鈥淭he Hopi will tell you it鈥檚 a journey to the center place. But it also travels with the motion of the wind or water. The Navajos have explained to me that the more stories there are of these, the richer it is. We try to nail things down, but when you look at the Pueblo people, the more interpretations there are.鈥�
Already launching his next project, Frej is on his way to Jordan and Egypt to photograph 鈥淯nforgotten Cities from an Ancient Past.鈥�
