RESULTS

Dinosaur 1 does not satisfy the predictions that it is a single image, that it depicts an animal, or that it is entirely human-made. It is a composite of two separate items that were formed by pecking (a technique in which small bits of rock are chipped from the surface by a hand-held instrument), plus mineral or mud stains. The "head," "neck," and "torso" are a single item: a thick, sinuous shape formed by pecking. The "tail" is a second, U-shaped item formed by pecking. That the two items are indeed two separate items is indicated by a gap between them and also by differences in pecking patterns and densities between the two (Figure 1). The "legs" are not part of the image and are not pecked or otherwise human-made but are stains of mud or some light-colored mineral on the irregular surface. What appears to be an eye is a natural chip or depression. What appears to be a smiling mouth is the edge of the pecking that forms the "chin." It follows a raised surface that continues to the right, beyond the "head." The meaning of the two pecked items is enigmatic, but it is clear that neither depicts an animal.

The "head" of Dinosaur 1 is overlapped by a subsequent pecking of a spiral-like shape, a common motif in petroglyphs and rock paintings and on pottery of Ancestral Pueblos after Pueblo I times (~ A.D. 700 to 1300). The "torso" is superimposed over a previously pecked triangle the apex of which protrudes above the "dinosaur's" "back." The significance of the triangle is enigmatic.

Dinosaur 2, located beneath the "chin" of Dinosaur 1, is allegedly a depiction of a second sauropod dinosaur (Sharp 2001). However, close inspection reveals that it is entirely composed of mud or mineral stain (Figure 1). No part of it is human-made. Its resemblance to a sauropod is vague at a distance and vanishes altogether at close range.

Dinosaur 3 is located on the opposite wall of Kachina Bridge. It allegedly depicts the three-horned dinosaur Triceratops (Sharp 2001). However, close inspection reveals that it is a composite of two items, neither of which depicts an animal. One item includes the head, torso, and tail of the alleged animal. The "tail" is the last undulation in a pecked, wavy line that continues to the left for approximately 3 m (Figure 1). The wavy line is forked on either end, and the tines of the right fork continue parallel to each other to form the "torso" of Dinosaur 3 then diverge in a wide arc on the right to form a closed loop, the "head." From the "head" a short, pecked extension emanates to the right. The second item is a series of eight vertical, pecked lines that are supposedly the legs of Dinosaur 3. However, these lines do not connect to the rest of the alleged animal. The lines probably represent a procession of eight people. Thickenings at the top of the lines suggest stylized heads, and similar depictions occur widely in the northern Southwest. Particularly well-known examples occur at the Procession Panel on Comb Ridge, a geological uplift southeast of Natural Bridges National Monument (Cole 2009; Wilshusen 1999, 2006). This type of imagery is proposed to be associated with prehistoric trade and/or group travels or migrations over time. Prehistoric trails and built roads are documented in the vicinities of Pueblo communities, and clan migrations are significant events in the oral histories of descendent peoples (Stevenson 1904; Courlander 1971; Yava 1978; Vivian 1990).

The eight lines meet a horizontal line that runs beneath them and continues to the left and crosses the "tail." This pattern suggests a trail or pathway. It is clear that no animal is depicted, but even if one imagines that the loop plus eight vertical lines together depict an animal, it has neither the three horns nor the cranial frill characteristic of a Triceratops. In fact, it resembles no specifically identifiable quadrupedal animal, so the allegation that it is specifically a dinosaur would remain baseless even if it were an animal.

Dinosaur 4 is alleged to possibly depict the one-horned dinosaur Monoclonius (Sharp 2001). This allegation is difficult to understand upon close inspection of the form, which is a linear squiggle formed by a series of curves made by continuous carving into the rock rather than by pecking. It does not specifically resemble any animal, living or extinct, nor indeed any identifiable object. Somewhat similar "squiggle mazes" as defined by Turner (1963) are ubiquitous in late prehistoric Pueblo petroglyph panels and may be associated with travel routes and symbolic of group migrations.