Signs of Life: Rock Art of the Upper Rio Grande

Rating:
Summary: Best New Mexico rock art book
Review: I have never seen such a well done rock art book. It has a good section on styles and fillowing the Rio Grande drainage all the way to Texas. The maps, drawings, and photos are numerous and helpful.

Rating:
Summary: Definite Guide to Rock Art of the Region
Review: Relative to his work for the state of New Mexico as a water resource geologist, Slifer sees that "one of the principal ideas conveyed by rock art is a sense of place in the landscape...the creation of people who knew intimately their surroundings...they were keenly aware of territory since they walked everywhere; they knew which way the water ran because it was a life-sustaining element." The book includes descriptions of more than a hundred rock art sites in the region beginning near the headwaters of the Rio Grande in Colorado and progressing downstream through New Mexico to south of El Paso, Texas, with more than 300 illustrations, selected not only to represent the various styles, but to be visually interesting and when possible, not previously published. Some relatively unknown sites are presented from more than a decade of fieldwork in the region. Drawings are used when the rock art is so deteriorated that it doesn't photographs well. It begins with background information on the land and its people, progresses to a discussion of rock art styles, then goes to specific sites, first in the Ancestral Pueblo area, then the Mogollon. The last chapter is about public sites, for those who have no local informants to lead them to lesser known ones. As would be expected, throughout the book Slifer ties the rock art to the landscape, as well as the culture. This is a thoroughly researched, well-written, gracefully presented book, a must-have guide to the region for anyone interested in its rock art.