Arguably the most interesting of the six recorded petroglyph sites in Rosy Canyon, the Rosy Canyon Basket Petroglyph site is located to the east of Colarado City in Arizona and reached via a short walk. (It’s also referred to as the Rosy Canyon Basketmaker Site.)
The largest panel includes multiple images of woven baskets, which would have been used to collect seeds and plants.
The spiral motif typically denotes a journey or an emergence.
This main panel also has images of snakes.
A hunter is depicted with a bow and arrow, possibly hunting an elk. (The “Pockets Full of Dust” blog suggests that the bow dates the panel as being between Basketmaker II & III periods, around 500CE. This was when the Ancestral Pueblo people transitioned from nomadic foraging to semi-sedentary agriculture, crafting highly sophisticated coiled and twined baskets.)
To the right of the Basket panel is another panel with more petroglyphs
Next to the petrogyphs are the remains of several rooms, including include a circular kiva (a traditional, typically circular or rectangular subterranean chamber used as a communal venue for religious ceremonies, political meetings, and social gatherings).
On the ceiling is a pictograph – most likely another basket.
Getting to the Rosy Canyon Basket Site
The site is located just off Cane Beds Road (CR-237) in Northern Arizona just south of the Utah Border. A faint trail heads up to the base of the cliffs from a small parking area and turning circle just off the road, 6.1 miles (9.8km) from the main highway (AZ-389).
More information
- Pockets Full of Dust – Basketmaker Site, Rosy Canyon
- GJhikes – Basket Site /
0 Comments