IIBTP
You’d think those scientists have never heard of a digital camera. There are many notices of really great finds, but rarely any photographs with the article. How come?
The caves in Europe are paintings. These are carvings, along the Colorado.
Apart from that... Many of the carvings (such as the nearby Newspaper Rock) are known as petroglyphs, and contain a mix of ancient and historical graffiti. The well known Mastodon carving may well be a circus elephant, as Barnums circus did make an appearance in the area in the 19th century. Some of the pictographs, however, in thankfully more remote areas may well be tens of thousands years old. The whole area is an explorers paradise having really only been opened up in the last 40 years because of the uranium boom. Utah maintains an extensive network of high clearance graded dirt roads that can be explored for hundreds of miles through spectacular scenery and humbling solitude.
Tagging ruined a perfectly good rock face.