Postitive and negative handprints of unknown age.
to be intermediaries or messengers
between the human world and the
spirit worlds. They practice divination and healing by going into a
trance state, and entering supernatural or spiritual realms to obtain solutions to problems afflicting
the community.
Some abstract and geometric elements continued to be depicted well
into the historic period, but representational imagery, much of which
is painted in red, dominate rock art
sites in the Big Bend and across
most of West Texas by the Late Archaic period, between about 3,000
and 1,100 years ago. Animals, insects, human-like figures, and handprints are among some of the images
that are depicted. Some panels appear to represent hunts or were perhaps created prior to hunts,
foreshadowing success in this endeavor. Other imagery is not as easily
deciphered, but may illustrate
shamanic transformations into animal
forms while in trance. Some figures
may have been placed specifically in an
effort to establish a group’s territory.
Big Bend Bold style pictographs,
characterized by large bold-faced paint-
15 • www.GalleriesArtists.com
Horse and rider figure with an
apparent Spanish saddle