'Winged Monster' Rock Art Finally Deciphered

livescience.com ^ | August 18, 2015 09:25am ET | Laura Geggel,

[BenLurkin]

The mystery surrounding the ancient rock paintings of Utah's Black Dragon Canyon has finally been solved. For decades, researchers and creationists have debated whether the vibrant red pictographs are images of humans and animals, or rather, depictions of a large winged monster, possibly a pterosaur.

Now, using cutting-edge technology, researchers suggest the red paintings show five separate images, including a tall bug-eyed person, a smaller person, a sheep, a dog and a serpentlike figure.

"It is not a single figure. It is not a pterodactyl," said co-lead researcher Paul Bahn, a freelance archaeologist. "It's a beautiful set of images."

The rock paintings belong to the agrarian Fremont culture (circa A.D. 1 to 1100). Other Fremont rock paintings — known as Barrier Canyon style — show abstract humanlike figures with elongated bodies and round heads, the researchers wrote in the study. These long figures are usually accompanied by tiny "attendants," including people, birds and four-legged creatures, such as hoofed animals, canines, felines, badgers and bears.

Amateurs discovered the painting in 1928, and soon after talk of the "winged monster" arose. In 1947, a man named John Simonson traced over the paintings with chalk and said the end result looked like "a weird bird."

Chalking rock art was a common practice in earlier years — ancient rock art is usually faint, and chalk can help make it visible — but today it's illegal, Bahn said.

"It's one of the worst things you can do, because it damages the art, it imposes what you think you can see on it, it messes up the chemistry of the rock, probably, and it just doesn't disappear,"

[BenLurkin]

Compiled DStretch images that show the rock art drawings in their entirety. From left to right, notice the two quadrupeds, the tall person, the supplicating person and the snakelike figure. The style of these images matches other Fremont culture rock-art paintings in the region. Credit: Jean-Loïc Le Quellec, Paul Bahn and Marvin Rowe, "The death of a pterodactyl," Antiquity, Volume 89, p 872-884, 2015, Copyright Antiquity Publications Ltd., published by Cambridge University Press, reproduced with permission

[circlecity]

Where’s the “I’m not saying it was aliens....but...” guy?

[BenLurkin]

[dware]

it messes up the chemistry of the rock, probably, and it just doesn't disappear,"

Inspires confidence, probably.

[dware]

PinGGG!

[dfwgator]

“A crummy commercial?”

[BenLurkin]

[ETL]

[left that other site]

The quadrup[eds are sheep.
The snakelike figure is the government.
The supplicating figure is the obsequious citizen that does whatever he is told.
The Tall Figure holding a printout of Hillary’s emails.
The snakelike figure is attempting to bite the tall figures azz.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

A sheep?

[USNBandit]

It’s obvious that this is a depiction of the aftermath of an ancient person consuming spicy food. That is flame shooting out of his butt and all his animals are scattering. The animal on the right didn’t escape and was caught up in the conflagration.

[GoneSalt]

I’d have to stick with the shamanic experience put on canvas crowd.

I’ve gone down that road and my guess is the humanized animals are the shaman joined with the animal spirit ally and the small attendant animals are other animal allies/helper spirits.

Kind of like “earth angels” in both a guardian angel and spiritual guide type context. If the shaman was about to do a great work or fight a spiritual battle he would call on and assume the form of his strongest or most appropriate ally, and other helpers he had walked, dreamed and danced with would continue to be his posse, but of lesser influence in his life at that point in time.

[ETL]

After a man named John Simonson drew an outline around the paintings with chalk, he announced that the image looked like "a weird bird."
The above drawing is one interpretation of the rock painting in Utah.

http://www.livescience.com/51892-photos-utah-rock-art.html

[ETL]

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks dware.

[lostboy61]

You missed your calling! You need to head for Hollywood and write you some movies.

[left that other site]

LOL...I wrote a Musical about the 2004 election...does that count?

[unread]

"The quadrup[eds are sheep. The snakelike figure is the government. The supplicating figure is the obsequious citizen that does whatever he is told. The Tall Figure holding a printout of Hillary’s emails. The snakelike figure is attempting to bite the tall figures azz."

Will....that certainly makes sense to me....

[Constitution Day]

[left that other site]

The interpretation of paleolithic symbolism is a little hobby of mine:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_DT8_pQbv4

One of my favorites.