History

History & Culture

Wonder what a petroglyph is? or why was a petroglyph made?

New Mexico's history has led to a wondrous blending of cultures: from the Puebloan and other Native American groups that have been here for thousands of years, through the Spanish and Mexican heritage moving in several centuries ago, to the more recent additions of Northern European decent during the last two centuries.

Each has provided customs and traditions that make the Southwest so unique and beloved a place to be. Of course the evidence of the early inhabitants is shown in the petroglyphs, but when you visit, you will also be surrounded by many of the other popular aspects of the Southwest. Chile Ristas can be seen almost everywhere you look. Luminaria are utilized during the Christmas holiday seasons. Artistry influenced by all the cultures abounds.

Medicinal Plants

Introduction

Prior to the arrival of the railroads in the 1880s, there were no physicians in New Mexico who were trained in modern medical science. The American Indian and Hispanic peoples of the territory dealt with illness by combining long traditions of religious and spiritual healing with the use of natural resources that the land provided, including native herbs and plants. The West Mesa, the Volcanoes, the escarpment - all areas within present - day Petroglyph National Monument - were significant areas related to these aspects of healing for the people of the region. While many searched - for plants grew elsewhere, such as in the mountains, many others were found here. There use as supplements to modern, nontraditional medicine continues today.

Indian Use

Plant materials have been, and continue to be collected by the Pueblo, Navajo, Apache, and other southwestern tribes for both individual medicinal use and ritual healing purposes. These include a wide variety of plant species. For example, today at Zuni Pueblo, 14 different plants whit emetic qualities have been identified for treatment of stomachache.

In addition to therapeutic uses, Pueblo people have collected wild plant products as a part of pilgrimage. Through the act of carrying certain plant and animal products back to their villages, they brought the life energies from distant parts of their natural world, which benefited the entire community. This is often done by members of religious societies, who leave prayers, offerings, and prayer sticks in exchange, and use plant products in healing ceremonies. Ceremonies conducted without prescribed plant materials would be considered ineffectual.

As evidence of these ritual practices in the past, one can find worn areas, or grinding slicks, on the boulders along the West Mesa where native people are thought to have ground seeds and herbs.

Hispanic Use

Self-appointed healers in the Hispanic community - usually women who were called medicas or curanderas - collected, dried, processed, and administered herbal remedies. Using leaves, roots, or seeds of various plants, she made concoctions for her sick patients.

The medica, who served as midwife, nurse, and doctor, might be paid in coin or in edible produce. She brought with her many folk beliefs from medieval Europe. These may have included a belief in magic or witchcraft; a tradition of using Oriental spices; or a familiarity with the Doctrine of Signatures, a codification by the Roman Catholic Church of many pre-Chrisitan healing traditions. The codification stated that one could learn the use of a plant by observing some marking or color. For example, plants with yellow flowers might be used to treat jaundice and those with a red signature to treat blood disorders.

Method of Usage

Plants believed to have medicinal qualities were used to treat many human maladies, oftentimes in conjunction with the performance of healing ceremonies or prayer.

Plants, or preparations there from, were chewed, applied topically, ingested, used for bathing, or they might have been used exclusively in ceremonial practices.

Various parts of plants (roots, stems, leaves, flowers, bark, etc. ) were used, depending on the particular species or the particular purpose. Roots or leaves might be ground into a powder, which then might be mixed with water or other ingredients to make a poultice. The boiling of leaves or twigs or roots - or even the whole plant- was often done to create a tea for drinking or a decoction in which the patient was bathed.

Plant Names

In New Mexico, each linguistic group has their own names for the native plants that they have traditionally used.

Indian names, which differ among the five Pueblo language groups, are typically compounded, and refer to attributes such as size, shape, color, smell, habitat, associations with animals, or ritual uses.

In the Hispanic community, some plant names are Moorish in origin - introduced by the Arab conquerors of the Iberian Peninsula and brought across the ocean to the New World by Spanish explorers and settlers.

From Mexico have come names and uses borrowed from the Aztecs. From their Pueblo neighbors in New Mexico the Hispanic people have also learned the names of local plants.

Medicinal Plants in Petroglyph National Monument:

Over 20 plant species found within or near the boundaries of the Monument are known to have been used medicinally:

Sand sage or Romerillo (Artemesia Filifolia)
Four-Wind Saltbush or Chamiso (Atriplex Canescens)
Rabbitbrush or Chamiso Blanco (Chrysothamnus Nauseosus)
Doveweed, Texas Croton or Barbasco (Croton Texensis)
Jimson Weed or Toloache (Datura mteloides)
Mormon Tea or Canutillo del campo (Ephedra Torreyana)
Buckwheat (Erioganum sp.)
Apache Plume or Ponil (Fallugia Paradoxa)
Snakeweed or Escoba de la vi Bora (Gutierrezia Sarothrae)
One-Seed Juniper or Rama de Sabina (Juniperus Monosperma)
Wolfberry or Tomatillo or Chico (Lycium Pallidum)
Wild Four O'Clock or Maravilla (Mirabilis Multiflorum)
Scorpionweed (Phacelia sp.)
Purslane (Portulaca sp.)
Three-Leaf Sumac, Lemonade Bush or Lemita (Rhus Trilobata)
Dock or Cana Agria (Rumex Hymenosepalus)
Horse Nettle or Tomatillo del Campo (Solanum Elaeagnifolium)
Globe Mallow or Yerba del Negro (Sphaeralcea Angustifolia)
Indian, Navajo, or Hopi Tea or Cota (Thelesperma Megapotamicum)

Almost no scientific study or chemical analysis has been done on these native species to determine if or why they might be effective, or what active ingredients they might contain.

Sand Sage contains aromatic oils, including camphor, and was used for stomach disorders and treating colds. The penitents washed their lacerated backs with romerillo tea. Most of the Rio Grande Pueblos made a tea from Rabbitbrush for treating stomach disorders.

Doveweed contains croton oil, a cathartic, and was used as such at Isleta, Acoma, Laguna, and Zuni. Preparations of the plant have been used for rheumatism, paralysis, earache (seeds placed in ear), and headache (inhalation of smoke from burning plant).

Jimson Weed (the English name comes from its effects on the early Jamestown settlers) is an extremely toxic plant that has been used for its anesthetic and analgesic effects.

Mormon Tea contains tannin and pseudoephedrine as has been used for urinary disorders, diarrhea, venereal disease, and skin itch, in addition to tanning animal shins.

Ground Apache Plume roots have been mixed with sugar for a cough; ground leaves mixed with wild tobacco (punche) for rheumatic joints; ground flowers mixed with horehound, flour and water to massage swollen parts of the body, and ground plumes mixed with commercial Dragon's Blood (sangre de venado), rock salt, soot, and wine to drive away evil effects of bewitchment.

Juniper-Sprig Tea was given to postpartum mothers, as was snakeweed tea. Juniper was also used for a number of other ailments. The pitch was ground with white beans and horehound to make a concoction (Almaciga de Sabina) to rub on swelling of the face.

The powdered roots of Dock contain an antibacterial substance and were applied to burns, sores, and rashes, or a rinse was made for sore throat or pyorrhea. The green berries of horse nettle were crushed, mixed with salt, and bound to the throat for enlarged tonsils.

Additional Reading

Dunmire, William W., and Gail D. Tierney, Wild Plants of the Pueblo Province, Exploring Ancient and Enduring Uses, Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press, 1995.

Curtin, L.S.M., Healing Herbs of the Upper Rio Grande, Traditional Medicine of the Southwest, Santa Fe: Western Edge Press, 1997.

Moore, Michael, Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West, Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press, 1979.

More, Michael, Medicinal Plants of the Desert and Canyon West, Santa Fe: Museum of New Mexico Press, 1989.

History of the Atrisco

The Atrisco Land Grant

The Spanish land tenure or land grant system was a practice brought from Spain to establish economic development and settlement in New Mexico. Prominent individuals requested large parcels of land and their ownership was granted by a Spanish official or by the King of Spain. The Rio Grande and its surrounding valley were lush with native vegetation therefore Spanish settlers considered this land ideal for settlement, agricultural and grazing purposes. The Coronado expedition of 1540, led by Captain Hernando de Alvarado, marked the earliest sightings of what would later become known as the Valle de Atrisco in the present Albuquerque area.

Early History of Valle de Atrisco

Spanish history of the Valle de Atrisco begins in 1598 with the arrival of Don Juan de Oñate of Spain who entered the northern frontier of New Mexico via El Camino Real for purposes of claiming the territory on behalf of the king of Spain. In the early 1600s a number of Spanish estancias (farms) and ranches dotted the area of the Rio Grande valley between Sandia Pueblo to the north and Isleta Pueblo to the south. By 1632 the first Spanish settlement in Albuquerque was on the site of present day Old Town.

Spanish settlement came to a halt in 1680 with the outbreak of the Pueblo Revolt. The revolt was the result of forced labor and religion imposed on the Pueblo Indians by Spanish colonists and missionaries. Twelve years later, Don Diego de Vargas succeeded in reoccupying New Mexico.

Within the ranks of de Vargas' volunteer army was a native New Mexican, Don Fernando Duran y Chaves II. In 1692, De Vargas awarded Don Fernando an 82,000-acre grant on the lands where his father, Don Pedro, once lived on the west side of the Rio Grande. This land became known as the Atrisco Land Grant.

El Camino Real

The oldest, most historic road in the United States is El Camino Real, also known as "The King's Highway" or "The Royal Road." In 1598 Oñate's first expedition into New Mexico walked along El Camino Real naming areas of the land as they journeyed north. Many of the names declared by Oñates' expedition are still used today such as Belen, Bernalillo, and Isleta. Since the late 16th century Spanish explorers, soldiers, colonists, missionaries, and merchants traveled north from Chihuahua, Mexico to Santa Fe, New Mexico via El Camino Real. Except for the 12 year Pueblo Revolt period when the Spanish forbade travel on the highway, El Camino Real was in constant use until 1881 when the Santa Fe Railroad completed laying the tracks between Albuquerque, New Mexico and El Paso, Texas.

For over four centuries this course-whether you call it El Camino Real as the Spanish, or El Camino Constitucional (Constitutional Highway) as the Mexican's, or Interstate 25 as the American's-served and continues to be the route of choice connecting people, cultures, and commerce throughout the western United States. Its historical significance has been acknowledged by Congress who designated El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (The Royal Road of Interior Land) a National Historical Trail in October of 2000.

Spanish Settlement in Atrisco

Settlers began to move to the village of Atrisco in 1703; In 1706 the Villa de Albuquerque was established. Settlers in the Atrisco valley built their haciendas (homes) along the Rio Grande. The villagers were highly reliant upon the resources of the land for their survival. The native grasses that grew in the canyons and rincons (corners) were critical for grazing sheep and cattle. Lands were cultivated and irrigated and used to grow corn, chile, wheat, squash, alfalfa, and beans. The land grant settlers relied on grazing sheep and other livestock for food and clothing. By 1760, over 200 people had settled in Atrisco, and the valley was becoming crowded. As a result in, 1768, the Atrisco Land Grant expanded to include the mesa top grasslands.

Other land grants included the Alameda grant to the north. The Elen and Carnual grants to the est, the Parajito grant to the south and many others up and down the Rio Grande Valley and throughtout New Mexico.

In 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, and New Mexico officially became part of the United States. The treaty honored existing land grants. For the people of Atrisco, this secured the land grant and provided increased economic opportunity.

The Atrisco Land Grant Today.

In 1967 the Atrisco Land Grant was incorporated into Westland Development Company Inc. which manages approximately 56,000 acres of Atrisco's land holdings. Of the monument's 7,236 acres, nearly 2,000 acres in the southern area called Mesa Prieta were once part of the Atrisco Land Grant. Among the volcanic rocks that form the canyons within the Atrisco grant, a considerable number of historic petroglyphs include Christian crosses, livestock brands, and Spanish initials.

For over 400 years, the Atrisqueños (Atrisco land grantees) have witnessed a number of economic and political changes, from the Pueblo Revolt to New Mexico's independence from Spain, and New Mexico's inclusion as a territory of the United States in 1846. Today, Atrisco remains one of the oldest existing land grants in the United States and one of very few Spanish Colonial grants still presently owned by the heirs of the original Spanish settlers. The Atrisco Land Grant continues to be a proud part of Spanish heritage in New Mexico.

Terms related to the Atrisco Land Grant

Sierra de Sandia: Located in the eastern elevations of Albuquerque at 10,678 ft. above sea level, the mountains comprise of granite, white limestone, and a variety of vegetation. The name derives from its historical association with Sandia Pueblo.

Río Puerco: Spanish meaning hints more at "muddy river", as it is seasonally full. Located 16 miles west of the Río Grande from Albuquerque, the east bank of the Río Puerco formed the westernmost boundary of the Atrisco Land Grant in 1768 when the grant was expanded beyond the Ceja del Río Puerco, or the horizon formed by the ridge south of Albuquerque's west mesa.

Villa de Alburquerque: Believed to be the Spanish derivation of the Latin term albaquercus. Founded in 1706, the Villa de San Felipe de Neri de Alburquerque was named in part for Viceroy Francisco Fernández de la Cueva Enríquez, Duke of Alburquerque, and partly in honor of King Felipe V's coronation. San Felipe de Neri was his patron saint. In modern times, the extra "r" has been dropped. The word Albuquerque is believed to have been corrupted by English speaking arrivals to New Mexico in the 19th century.

Ceja: Spanish meaning brow or ridge. This word refers to the Ceja del Río Puerco of the Atrisco Land Grant. The Ceja del Río Puerco is the western horizon of the city south of the west mesa. From the Río Puerco looking eastward toward Albuquerque, one can see the horizon formed from that viewpoint. The cumbre or ridge is the ceja.

Mesa: Spanish for plateau in southwestern United States. Much of Albuquerque's west mesa is included in Petroglyph National Monument.

Valle: Spanish for valley.

Río Grande del Norte: Spanish for "large river of the north", originates in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado. It flows southward through the middle of New Mexico and empties into the Gulf of Mexico.

Definitions

The following information and definitions may help you appreciate and understand more about the nature and study of petroglyphs at Petroglyph National Monument.

DEFINITIONS

Ancestral Pueblo

Ancestral Pueblo peoples are the ancestors of the people living in the 19 modern New Mexico Pueblos and at Hopi in northeastern Arizona. Many of the petroglyphs at Petroglyph National Monument are believed to have been created by these ancestral people.

In addition to the Ancestral Puebloan associated images, other rock carvings may have been created by the ancestors of the Navajo and Apache, whose descendants also still reside in New Mexico and Arizona.

Desert Varnish

Desert Varnish, sometimes called rock varnish, is a thin coating (patina) of clay particles that are deposited on rocks in desert environments. These clay particles are attached to rock surfaces by bacteria that live there. The presence of manganese with the clay particles gives desert varnish a dark color, while the presence of iron causes it to appear red. After an underlying area is exposed by pecking or scratching, the color of the exposed interior gradually becomes more like the color of the surface because of the rock varnish's regrowth, or repatination.

Glyph

A glyph is a symbol or image that is incised or carved in relief.

Patina

The patina on a boulder is the thin coating of color, also referred to as desert varnish or rock varnish.

Petroglyph

Petroglyphs are images and designs made by engraving, carving or scratching away the dark layer of rock varnish on a rock's surface to reveal the lighter rock underneath. Images can be of varying depths and thicknesses. Images can be pecked, carved, incised, scratched, or abraded.

We do not know the exact method used to make the petroglyphs at Petroglyph National Monument. There are several possible techniques that could have been used. In general, archeologists believe that stone hammers and other stone tools were used to create the petroglyphs. A stone hammer could have been used directly on the boulders, or it may have been that two tools were used like stone versions of a hammer and chisel. Archeologists refer to these methods of production as direct and indirect percussion.

It is estimated that there are nearly 20,000 petroglyphs within Petroglyph National Monument.

Pictograph

Pictographs are images and designs made by painting on rocks or in caves. Colorful plants and minerals were ground up and mixed with protein based liquids such as egg, blood, or urine to make different colors of paint. The pigments were applied using sticks, brushes, fingers or hands.

Only a very small number (less than 0.1%) of rock images in Petroglyph National Monument are pictographs. An inventory of rock images begun in 1997 has found only a handful of images that can be called pictographs.

Repatination

Repatination refers to the re-coloration, or the re-growth of the desert varnish after a petroglyph image has been created. Repatination occurs at various rates and degrees. A close examination of the degree of repatination can give a relative idea of how old an image may be. A great degree of repatination (darkening) indicates greater age than an image that shows only slight repatination.

Rock Art

Rock Art is a term we generally do not use at Petroglyph National Monument. The images on the rocks are more than just art. In fact, Native American languages generally do not have words that describe things in artistic terms. When you do see the term "rock" art used it is a general reference that includes both pictographs and petroglyphs.

GENERAL INFORMATION

When were the petroglyphs and pictographs made?

Images have been carved and painted onto rocks for many thousands of years. In North America and Mexico, some rock images may be as much as 10,000 to 12,000 years old. Other rock images are probably less than a few hundred years old. To many Native people in North America, the petroglyphs are immeasurably old. They are considered an integral and inseparable part of the landscape created at the beginning of time.

There is currently no widely accepted method of exact dating for petroglyphs and pictographs. Some attempts have been made to extract DNA from pictographs where organic materials were used to adhere the paints. In general, through relative dating based on pottery styles and Pueblo murals, there have been attempts to place images into general blocks of time.

Relative Dating by Depiction

We know when the time periods related to the widespread use of the atlatl (spear thrower) and the bow and arrow. If these images are depicted we know approximately when the image may have been made. The atlatl, a stick used for throwing spears, was used for thousands of years prior to the introduction of the bow and arrow. The bow and arrow came into use in the Southwest approximately A.D. 500. A petroglyph panel showing bow and arrow use tells us that the image's creation was after A.D. 500. Contact with the Spanish dates to after A.D. 1540. An image of a horse or horse and rider would place that image into a time period after the arrival of the Spanish. In this way, looking at the subject matter of a petroglyph panel can provide a relative or approximate date for the creation of the images depicted.

Most of the petroglyphs at Petroglyph National Monument are believed to have been created by Ancestral Pueblo peoples between A.D. 1300 and 1600; though some could be as much as 2,000 to 3,000 years old, while others date to the Spanish colonial period.

Who made the petroglyphs?

Petroglyphs and pictographs have been created by people all over the world. Many of them were made hundreds and thousands of years ago, although in some areas of the world people still produce these images in the old ways following ancient traditions.

Native Americans made most of the images in North America. This is also true at Petroglyph National Monument, however some rock images within the monument were made by early Spanish settlers or Indians living in the area during the Colonial Period (A.D. 1540-1821). Some of the presumed Spanish influenced images depict horses, livestock brands, and Christian crosses.

Interpreting Images on Stone

There were probably many reasons for making the petroglyphs. We do not always understand why an image was placed in a particular location, or what it may mean. We do know that the images are more than just art or imitation of the natural world. We leave the interpretation to the individual.

It is likely that the carved and pecked images are important cultural symbols that reflect the complex society and beliefs of Native American peoples today and in the past. There are hundreds of different kinds of images. All told, we believe that more than 25,000 images exist within Petroglyph National Monument. Today there are more than 20 Native American pueblos and tribes culturally affiliated with the monument, therefore many different beliefs and practices may be represented by the petroglyphs.

We usually do not try and interpret the images or assign specific meanings. Some meanings were not meant to be known or understood today. Some meanings were not meant to be known or understood by the uninitiated. Some images were possibly made for religious purposes. They probably all have a deep spiritual significance and may be considered prayers by some people. Current speculation has led some researchers to believe that some petroglyphs or pictographs may tell a story, mark a trail, or commemorate an event. Some images may have been made to ensure fertility or successful hunting, or may have also been used to keep track of the seasons. In some instances the image may represent a clan or family.

What an image appears to be on the surface though, may be very different from the meaning it had for the person who pecked the image into the rock. Today, when we examine the images carved on stone we can only speculate what their significance was. We may never know for sure what the maker intended. It is likely that meanings have been obscured by time and distance. Some meanings are still known, others have been forgotten, but they are still respected. The petroglyphs' deepest meanings are closely guarded by today's Native peoples.

Studying Petroglyphs and Pictographs

Archeologists, art historians, cultural geographers, and others study petroglyphs and pictographs and the cultural landscapes in which they reside.

Since 1997 an inventory of the petroglyphs in the monument has been underway. As of May 2002 over 21,000 actual images have been recorded and documented in a systematic way. At the current rate of recording, with several highly concentrated areas left to record, monument staff are predicting that close to 25,000 images will ultimately be documented. These data are available for management and research purposes.

When studying and recording petroglyphs and pictographs, many aspects are considered. Similarities and differences are noted. Their position and spatial relationship to each other is recorded as that may be of importance. Their specific appearance is described by identifying visual characteristics of the image called elements. Elements can be representational (depicting animals, people or plants) or abstract lines, spirals and dots. Single or multiple elements are sometimes repeated to cover a large surface. Complex panels may combine numerous representational and abstract elements.

Researchers also classify petroglyph and pictograph styles according to elements, figures, compositions, and techniques that are consistent within a geographic area and time period. This is how relative dates and periods may be assigned through style and similarities to objects and features that can be dated, such as pottery and architecture. Once a style is defined, it is used to associate images with specific cultural groups and histories.

What are Petroglyphs and who made them?

Petroglyphs are rock carvings (rock paintings are called pictographs) made by pecking directly on the rock surface using a stone chisel and a hammerstone. When the "desert varnish" on the surface of the rock was pecked off, the lighter rock underneath was exposed, creating the petroglyph. Archaeologists have estimated there may be over 25,000 petroglyph images along the 17 miles of escarpment within the monument boundary.

It is estimated 90% of the monument's petroglyphs were created by the ancestors of today's Pueblo Indians. Puebloans have lived in the Rio Grande Valley since before 500 A.D., but a population increase around 1300 A.D. resulted in numerous new settlements. It is believed that the majority of the petroglyphs were carved from about 1300 through the late 1680s.

The arrival of Spanish people in 1540 had a dramatic impact on the lifestyle of the pueblo people. In 1680 the Pueblo tribes rose up in revolt of Spanish rule, and drove the settlers out of the area and back to El Paso, Texas. In 1692 the Spanish resettled the area. As a result of their return, there was a renewed influence of the Catholic religion, which discouraged participation by the Puebloans in many of their ceremonial practices. As a consequence, many of these practices went underground, and much of the image making by the Puebloans decreased. A small percentage of the petroglyphs found within the park pre-date the Puebloan time period, perhaps reaching as far back as B.C. 2000. Other images date from historic periods starting in the 1700s, with petroglyphs carved by early Spanish settlers.

Recent History of Petroglyph National Monument

Petroglyph National Monument is cooperatively managed by the National Park Service and the City of Albuquerque Open Space Division.

Why does the City of Albuquerque Open Space Division co-manage Petroglyph National Monument with the National Park Service? This federal-local government arrangement is almost unique in the 388 unit National Park Service. The answers are rooted, as they often are, in history, community, and politics.

Albuquerque's citizens have enjoyed their wide open spaces many years. A wonderful 1893 photograph of a man and his infant daughter shows a horse carriage in the background at the Mesa Prieta area of the Monument. Some activities weren't so pastoral—N.M. Volcano "Erupts" But Fools No One—a 1950 newspaper headline declared. Nobody was fooled, apparently, because the same prank—piling tires on the side of a volcano and setting them on fire to simulate an eruption—had been tried in 1947 with much greater success (even causing a panic in the city). For years students from nearby St Joseph would paint a "J" on Vulcan Volcano, when the light is right it can still be seen.

Response to development pressure played a vital role in saving land that would one day become Petroglyph Monument. A proposal in the late 1960s to carve the mesa top and volcanoes into 5-acre 'ranchettes' spurred the activism of a group called Save the Volcanoes. Under the leadership of Ruth Eisenberg, the "Volcano Lady," the City put up millions of dollars, matched with federal Land and Water Conservation Funds, to buy and protect the volcanoes and surrounding mesa land. At the same time, some of the first City 'regional parks' were purchased (for as little as $2.50 acre) from the Bureau of Land Management through the Recreation and Public Purposes Act. A key example was Boca Negra Park, a 1,527 acre tract containing portions of Rinconada Canyon and the mesa top.

In 1972, a major new subdivision called Volcano Cliffs was required to set aside some land for a neighborhood park as part of the City's park dedication ordinance. D.W. Falls dedicated 74 acres to the city. It consisted of steep slopes and many so-called 'rock carvings.' Once acquired, the city again sought Federal Land and Water Conservation Funds funneled through the State of New Mexico, to help construct trails, a picnic area and restroom. Indian Petroglyph State Park (now the Boca Negra Unit) was opened a year later. Today 95% of the monuments visitors enjoy the resources at Boca Negra Canyon. This area continues to be owned and managed by the City of Albuquerque even though it is part of Petroglyph National Monument.

Another major success story resulted in saving the Piedras Marcadas pueblo. This ancient adobe village, comprising an estimated 1,000+ rooms occupied between AD 1300 and the mid-1500s, is one of the largest remaining and most intact pueblos in the middle Rio Grande valley. Plans for a condominium complex on top of the pueblo raised great concern by preservationists, and within a year the site was bought for open space. Due to the direct connection between the village's residents and the rich concentrations of petroglyphs nearby, the pueblo was included in the monument's boundaries. Also surrounded by new residential development the City Open Space acquired lands nearby for a visitor center and educational facility and to help protect this significant resource.

Researchers also played an important role in the creation of the monument. In the late 1960s the Albuquerque Archaeological Society, led by Colonel Jim Bain, recorded many petroglyphs in the Piedras Marcadas Canyon area. In fact, Piedras Marcadas Canyon was their first recommendation for a park site but the deal did not materialize. In the mid-1980s concerned citizens from the local Open Space Task Force helped commission a study with state funds that documented over 15,000 petroglyphs on the edge of the West Mesa. These findings led to listing the area on the National Register of Historic Places as the Las Imágines National Register District in 1986. Immediately thereafter, the Friends of the Albuquerque Petroglyphs was formed by Ike Eastvold, whose tireless work with numerous local groups forged the way for establishing the National Monument on June 27, 1990. Other volunteers of all ages helped clean up, fence and otherwise support the lands within the monument boundary. Today, vigilant neighbors continue to help protect the resources by picking up trash, reporting suspicious activity and serving as trail watch volunteers.

The Petroglyph National Monument enabling legislation recognized both the imminent threats to the petroglyphs as well as the key role of citizens and the City of Albuquerque. Without state and local government ownership of more than 3,500 acres—over 1/2 of the Monument—would not have happened so quickly, if at all. Due to the role of the City's Open Space Division in acquiring land and managing it for several decades, Congress envisioned a cooperative partnership with the National Park Service well into the future.

Today land acquisition is almost complete. The City of Albuquerque and the National Park Service cooperatively manage the lands within the monument boundaries consistant with a Memorandum of Understanding. The National Park Service conducts interpretive and educational programs and natural and cultural research, patrols all monument lands, operates the Las Imágines Visitor Center (an old adobe home built in 1953 and purchased from Dr. Sophie Aberle) and constructs and maintains facilities in the Atrisco Unit. The City of Albuquerque manages both the Boca Negra Unit (in which the State of New Mexico acquired 140 acres of land) and Piedras Marcadas Units and also conducts interpretive programs and law enforcement patrols. The City is developing a visitor center adjacent to the Piedras Marcadas Pueblo.

When the monument was established in 1990, half of the 7239 acres were already in public ownership. Since then, Federal, state and city governments have spent $60 million on land acquisition. The State of New Mexico transferred 640 acres to the Federal Government in 2001. In addition, the City owns several thousand acres of Major Public Open Space lands immediately adjacent to the monument. These lands, while not within the monument boundary, are maintained in their natural state for recreational use and as an open space preserve. These lands are part of Albuquerque's 20,000 acres of designated and highly celebrated Major Public Open Space.

Located in the fastest growing area of Albuquerque, the monument is surrounded on the east and north by residential development. Expansive plans for additional residential development to the south have been approved. Once on the very edge of the city, residential lots adjacent to Petroglyph National Monument now command higher prices, with views being protected in perpetuity. Monument neighbors appreciate having a National Park in their own back yard. The City enforces design guidelines for properties adjacent to the volcanic escarpment (height of structures, roof and building color, reflective surfaces and other considerations). Three new elementary schools are within walking distance of the monument and Chamisa Elementary's school yard even opens directly into the monument, their own outdoor classroom.

What does the near future look like? The City of Albuquerque has plans to expand the Double Eagle II General Aviation Airport to the west by constructing new runways. New mesa top development is being planned and thousands of acres of land nestles next to the volcanic escarpment is slated for over 18,000 new homes. Issues of urban encroachment, intense and sometimes conflicting recreational use, city proposed road construction (a four lane Unser Boulevard through the Boca Negra Unit and a 4-6 lane Paseo Del Norte across the escarpment on 8.5 acres removed from the monument boundary in 1997), aircraft over flights and storm water runoff continue to provide challenges to the resources and impacts to the quality of the visitor experience. Although considered an "urban park" by many the same rules and regulations generally applicable to all units of the National Park System apply.

So when you see both the city Open Space and National Park Service logos you will understand the long standing relationship of this complex, dynamic and evolving national teeasure.

Why were the Petroglyphs made?

There were many reasons for creating the Petroglyphs, most of which are not well understood by non-Indians. Petroglyphs are more than just "rock art," picture writing, or an imitation of the natural world. They should not be confused with hieroglyphics, which are symbols used to represent words, nor thought of as ancient Indian graffiti. Petroglyphs are powerful cultural symbols that reflect the complex societies and religions of the surrounding tribes. Petroglyphs are central to the monument's sacred landscape where traditional ceremonies still take place. The context of each image is extremely important and integral to its meaning. Note each petroglyph's orientation to the horizon and surrounding images, as well as the landscape in which it sits. Today's native people have stated that the placement of each petroglyph image was not a casual or random decision.Some petroglyphs have meanings that are only known to the individuals who made them. Others represent tribal, clan, kiva or society markers. Some are religious entities and others show who came to the area and where they went. Some petroglyphs still have contemporary meaning, while the meaning of others is no longer known, but are respected for belonging to "those who came before." While viewing these petroglyph images, please consider their importance to both past and present cultures.

Hornos

Birds sing, and cedar smoke fills the air. From afar, you can hear the chatter and laughter of Pueblo women as they bake their weekly supply of bread and other foods in an oudoor oven called an horno - and carry on a tradition passed down through generations of Pueblo bakers.

Before Hornos

Prior to the arrival of the Spanish in Pueblo territory in 1540, corn was a staple crop. Men and women planted the corn near their villages, harvesting it int eh fall. After it was harvested, the women ground the kernels inot corn flour, which they used for baking bread indoors. They made piki from finely ground blue corn and lime, which was smoothed out onto a flat, hot rock to cook. They also made corn tortillas from ground-up yellow corn that was mixed with water, flattened into a round shape, and also cooked on a flat, hot rock. Pueblo people still eat piki and corn tortillas today, although they are now prepared using modern cooking equipment.

In the old days, Pueblo women sometimes also baked bread outside in a cooking pit - a hole dug in the ground about a foot wide and a foot deep, with a vent on the side. The floor of this pit was plastered over with clay (and re-plastered after each use). To use the cooking pit, they first built a fire, using cedar or pinon wood. They let the fire burn for several hours, and then removed the cedar and ash. Then they quickly placed the bread on a layer of damp cornhusks. To keep hear inside the cooking pit during the baking or cooking time, they used a flat stone as a cornerstone.

You can still see similar cooking pits being used for cooking bread, vegetables, and meats in some Pueblo villages and other communities throughout New Mexico today.

Hornos

The Spanish brought wheat with them when they came to Pueblo had never seen before, and had to be taught how to use. Pueblo men learned how to plant and harvest wheat in their fields, along with their vegetables. Once the wheat was harvested, Pueblo women learned new ways of preparing it for baking. Bread was the first food that Pueblo women made from wheat. But now, instead of baking their bread in a cooking pit, the women were taught how to build and use an above-ground horno, or beehive-shaped outdoor oven.

The construction of Pueblo hornos is much the same today as it was in early times. Individual Pueblo villages, as well as individual families, have their own unique style of constructing a horno. Some use sandstone that is cut into brick size; others use lava rocks of varied sizes and shaped; and still others use adobe bricks made out of a mixture of straw, clay, and sand. The floors of hornos are constructed by laying two layers of brick on the ground, in a circle. The middle area is left empty, to be filled in later with smaller pieces of rock. Forming the wall and roof of the oven requires expert placement of each brick and stone. Each piece is placed one at a time on the top edge of the floor; mortar is added; and the horno is then molded into a beehive shape. A 1'x1' doorway is left open at he bottom, as is a small vent near the top. The inside floor and outside of the oven are then covered by layers of adobe plaster. With annual re-plastering, hornos last for years.

Hornos are passed on for generations in Pueblo families. New ones are built when a new family requests one, or when it has been damaged. Some families build hornos that vary in size according to whether they need them for family use or for community activities.

How to Use a Horno

Depending on what the bread baking is for, family use or for an activity within the village, Pueblo women would be very busy making dough the day before the actual baking. Bread loaves are placed in pie pans or on cookie sheets and covered. These loaves of bread that are going to be baked can number from four to forty.

On the morning of the bread baking, gather cedar wood for the fire. Build the fire inside the horno, and monitor it so that it lasts for at least 45 minutes to 1 ½ hours. Allow the fire to die down, and use a shovel to remove the charcoal and a damp mop to sweep out the ash. Test the oven temperature (Pueblo women often used a quarter-sheet of newspaper or cornhusk). If it burns up quickly, use the damp mop again to cool down the inside floor, or leave it alone so that heat can escape on its own.

When the temperature is right, place each loaf of bread inside, beginning from back to front. Once all of the bread loaves are inside, cover the doorway with a homemade door or a sheet of galvanized steel. (In the old days, Pueblo women used to seal the doorway with adobe and rock each time they baked). Look and fell for any escaping heat, and cover leaking areas with a damp burlap sack.

After 30 minutes to 1 hour later, remove the door cover and carefully take out the baked goods. Bread is one of the many different food items that can be baked inside an outdoor oven. Cookies, corn for stew, meat, corn pudding and chile are other mouth watering examples of what can be baked in a horno.

Oven Bread Recipe

1 package dry yeast
½ cup shortening
¼ cup honey or sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water
4 cups all purpose flour

Dissolve yeast in ¼ cup of warm water. Mix and set aside. Mix shortening, honey or sugar and salt in large bowl. Add 1 cup very warm water, and stir well. When mixture cools to room temperature, mix well with the yeast mixture. Add 4 cups of flour, stirring well after each cup. Knead dough on a floured surface until it is smoothed or softened (about 15 minutes). Place dough in large bowl; cover with cloth; and put in warm place until dough doubles in size. Knead again. Divide dough into two equal parts. Shape each into loaves or rounds. Place the loaves on a well-greased cookie sheet, cover with cloth and allow to rise in a warm place. Place loaves in a preheated 400-degree oven and bake until lightly browned (about 1 hour). Use oven's middle rack and place a shallow pan of water on the bottom of the oven.

This recipe yields 2 loaves of sweet smelling oven bread. Enjoy it with a bowl of green chile stew, or with butter.

An Enduring Tradition

For centuries, Pueblo women and men have made bread, a main diet staple, for their families. In the beginning, bread was cooked on a flat slab of rock, and then baking was done in a dugout oven. With the arrival of the Spanish, baking bread changed with the introduction of wheat grain. Bread baking was done in a beehive shaped oven called horno. Cooking methods may have changed, but the feeding of one's family has not. The proud tradition of baking bread in a horno, is still passed on from one generation to another.