White Mountain (in the state of Wyoming) is a mountain range that covers about a quarter of the state of New Hampshire and a small portion of western Maine in the United States.
We can get some idea of how our ancient ancestors lived through the marks they left in the rocks and caves that we can see today.
The White Mountain petroglyphs are a powerful testimony to the lives of Native American tribes who lived there between 200 and 1,000 years ago. In addition to hundreds of carvings in the area, there are also giant handprints carved into the rocks.
In other parts of the world, petroglyphs can be as old as 20,000 years. However, they began to decline with the discovery and use of other types of writing surfaces, different art forms and pictographs.
The White Mountains petroglyphs are located in the Red Desert of Wyoming – once home to Native American tribes.
Petroglyphs and pictographs are windows into the past, providing us with data and information about the lives of the people who created them.
Here, on the canvas, are carvings and handprints that are the most tangible connections we have with the Great Basin Native Americans who lived there between 200 and 1,000 years ago. They included the Shoshone, Arapaho and Ute tribes.
Many cultures, such as Native Americans, continued to create them until contact with Western culture, sometimes as late as the 18th or even the 19th century.
These petroglyphs tell us a lot about the beliefs and culture of the people who lived here hundreds of years ago and beyond. There are carvings in the White Mountains that look like bison and elk hunts. There are also carvings of buffalo and wild horses on the rock faces. In addition to the animals, there are many interesting geometric shapes and small footprints that decorate the rock faces.
A bison carved into sandstone. The Plains and Great Basin Indians were the first inhabitants of Wyoming, and they left petroglyphs in the White Mountains centuries ago.
Although not much is known about these shapes or symbols in the past, Native Americans still consider them sacred. They feel connected to nature and feel positive when they visit this place. According to a Native American elder, these symbols have a very important and communal meaning for them. They feel that these rocks are alive and connected to them.
There are hundreds of carvings and drawings here, and each one tells a story from centuries ago.
But the most mysterious are the handprints carved deep into the solid sandstone, as if someone had mysteriously softened the stone and carved their hand into it.
According to historians, the handprints were made by the Easter Shoshone tribes around 1,000-1,800 AD. Since then, thousands of people have continued to make the same motion with their hands on the sandstone. This has created the effect of carving handprints deep into the stone.
According to historians, the handprints were created by the Easter Shoshone tribes around 1,000-1,800 AD.
According to a Wyoming history website, this is the birthplace of the Plains and Great Basin tribes. And local stories say that Native women often visited the White Mountains when they were giving birth. As they began to go into labor and had contractions, their hands would cling to the mountain face and over time, deep handprints in the sandstone were created.
Today, the site is considered sacred by Native Americans and visitors are encouraged to respect the site and not destroy any part of its history through vandalism.
Today, the White Mountains petroglyphs are one of Wyoming’s best-kept secrets. They only receive about 12,000 visitors a year (and admission is free).
The White Mountains petroglyphs are made of sandstone, a soft rock that gradually hardens over time. They were probably carved with something harder than sandstone.
But what about the handprints that look like they were gouged into them? They are deep in the solid sandstone, giving the impression that ancient people were somehow able to soften the rock. While these have not been studied much, experts believe that the birth story may have a plausible explanation. The rocks are soft, and over time, through countless times of pushing hands into the sandstone, this could have caused these handprints to be so deep and large in the sandstone.
There are similar examples of rock bending and carving around the world, not just in the White Mountains. In fact, to this day, scientists and historians often debate whether ancient civilizations actually knew advanced mechanisms for melting or softening rocks.
Scientists also believe that ancient cultures may have known how to use high temperatures to shape rocks. This process vitrified the surface of the rocks, making them glᴀss-like and easy to carve. But how exactly this process was done remains a mystery.
The petroglyphs in the White Mountains have not been formally studied or researched by anyone. At present, the White Mountains receive only 12,000 visitors per year. It is hoped that when visiting this special site, visitors will respect the sacredness and tread lightly to preserve the petroglyphs for as long as possible.
