Pictographs and Petroglyphs

Anasazi Indians and later Paiutes have left behind petroglyphs in Zion National Park giving us insight into how they lived. There are two basic types of ancient rock art: petroglyphs and pictographs. Petroglyphs were carved into rock, often in soft sandstone like the rock in Zion National Park. Pictographs were painted using natural pigments. Due to the delicate nature of ancient paintings they are usually only found in caves or other areas where they have been protected from the elements. There are a few pictographs in Zion National Park, but most are petroglyphs. Included among the odd doodle-like designs are figures carved into the sandstone. Human figures (anthropomorphs) and animals figures (Zoomorphs) are common. Evidence shows that the Anasazi Indians had been in the Zion National Park area for about two-thousand years and the Paiutes have been in the area for about eight hundred years.

The word Anasazi is Navajo for "Ancient Ones" or "Ancient Enemy".
 

Archaeologists still debate when this distinct culture emerged, but the current consensus, suggests their emergence around 1200 BC,

In the first half of their history, the Anasazi distinguished themselves primarily through the artistry of their basketry, which they crafted from the fibers of plants. In the second half, they left their mark on a much grander scale, through the construction of perhaps the most stunning prehistoric communities in the United States. The Anasazi would prove be resourceful, adaptable.

The early Basketmakers clothed themselves in fur- or turkey-feather robes, string aprons, loincloths and round-toed, plant-fiber sandals. They wore ornaments made of shell, bone or stone. They likely raised their crops – at this time, primarily corn and squash – in garden-like plots rather than in large fields. Apparently unaware of the bow and arrow, the men hunted the larger game animals with the spear, which they hurled with the throwing device we call the "atlatl."

Women gathered wild food plants such as amaranth, pinyon nuts, Indian rice grass, sunflower seeds and tansy mustard seeds, and they used coarse stone basins to grind domesticated and wild seeds into flour. The women prepared meals in pitch-lined baskets, cooking with fire-hot stones dropped directly into the food mixture. In an apparent indication of a passion for diversion, the early Basketmakers played games with a variety of small disk-like "gaming pieces."

In an evident expression of their love for beauty, they carved the blossoms of flowers from pieces of wood. They buried their dead in a flexed position, fully clothed, either within or nearby their lodges. They left a body with offerings of basketry, weapons, tools and ceremonial objects.
 

Paiutes ( meaning "True Utes or Water Utes")
 

The Paiutes settled in Utah around 1100 CE. They hunted rabbits, deer, and gathered seeds, roots, tubers, berries, and nuts, particularly pine nuts. They were farmers living along the Santa Clara River and the Virgin River and cultivated crops of corn, squash, melons, gourds, sunflowers..

The Dominguez-Escalante Expedition of 1776 was most likely the Virgin River Paiutes first contact with Europeans. Fur trader Jedediah Smith created a route to California directly through Paiute territory. The 19th century brought non-Native trappers, traders, and settlers to the area. The newly introduced livestock had a negative effect on the area's delicate ecology.

The Ute indians from the north and the Navajo's from the East were known as raiders and traders. They would kidnap Paiute women and children and sale them in to slavery to the Spanaids in Mexico