The Mogollon people were a prehistoric civilization that inhabited the southwestern United States from around 150 BCE to 1400 CE. Examples of their "rock art" depictions have been discovered, providing insights into their culture. Two exhibits show petroglyphs that depict figures that may represent deities or spiritual leaders, animals and plants that were important resources, and a spiral symbol that could represent the sun or universe. A third exhibit is a bowl with a bat design, indicating bats held some significance as creatures that lived in the sky and earth. Overall, the art provides evidence that the Mogollon people observed and documented the relationship between the sky and earth through the animals and symbols that were part of their lives

1. Mogollon Civilization
Detailing the relationship between
Sky & Earth.

2. Who are these people???
• The Mogollon people are Pre-Historic
civilization that originates in the southwestern
part of the United States.
• Historians date this civilization from 150 B.C.E.
to 1400 C.E.
• Mogollon people have numerous examples of
“rock art” that has been discovered by
modern archaeology.

3. What is Rock Art?
• According to the 11th Edition of Webster’s Dictionary, “rock
art”is defined as human carvings or markings placed on rock
or stone.
• This early practice took place on a global scale as “rock art”
has been found throughout the planet.
• Archaeologists, anthropologists, and historians have long
studied “rock art” in an attempt to define and understand
different civilizations.
• There is not a single criteria for what is considered “rock art”.

4. Exhibit A (Petroglyph)

5. Exhibit A (defined)
Relationship between Sky and Earth!
• Exhibit A is an example of what is called a Petroglyph.
Petroglyphs are simply rock engravings that have been
preserved by nature.
• Exhibit A directly relates to the theme explaining the
relationship between Sky and Earth. The Engraving features
three drawn figures of distinction. The figure to the far left,
looks to be an animal that is antlered. Possibly a reindeer, or
antelope which could have been used as a food or clothing
source, or both. This would express the artist’s possible
understanding for using natural resources from the Earth.
• Cont….

6. Exhibit A (Cont…)
• The second figure look to be a larger human type figure which
is very interesting. The larger humanlike figure is positioned
with an smaller humanlike figure to the right of it. The figure
to the right of it, appears to be the same size as the antlered
animal to the left of the larger figure. Which suggests that the
smaller humanlike figure and the animal figure are the same
size. This further suggests that the larger humanlike figure is
larger for an actual expressive reason. There is a clear
distinction made. The larger figure could be a deity of some
sort, or possibly and intermediary to deity, like a priest,
shaman or type of spiritual leader. The size of the figure
emphasizes a “greater” status of some sort.

7. Exhibit B
(Petroglyph)

8. Exhibit B (defined)
• This engraving shows three different carvings of what look to
be random shapes. The shapes are interestingly random upon
first recognition. The figure on the far left, looks like it could
be the head of some sort of animal. Possibly a coyote, or a
wild dog or some sort. This is could be seen as a food source,
or even a domesticated pet. The middle image is what
interests me the most. The middle image appears to be some
sort of spiral. Spirals are very interesting when looking at
indigenous art, and have been thought to represent a number
of things. One of the most common themes that have
attributed to spirals is knowledge of the universe.
• Cont…..

9. Exhibit B (Cont…)
• The spiral could represent the sun, as the sun can be seen as the
maintainer of our solar system. Many Indigenous groups held
affinity for the sun, realizing it to be the power source of for our
part of the universe.
• The spiral could also represent the universe itself, as an never
ending infinite phenomenon. In studying various indigenous
cultures, one commonality that we tend to find is the affinity for
living things. The idea that the world is connected through life
seems to be a common outlook amongst indigenous cultures. If the
spiral does represent the sun in this carving, we can now see a
relationship of possibly how the artist saw themselves in this
universe. The connection through phenomenon.
•

10. Exhibit B (Cont…)
• The object to the far right looks to be a plant, possibly a
cactus of some sort. This could represent vegetation to the
Mogollon people. If so, this carving shows some very
important elements that man possibly saw interconnected to
his survival. We can observe an animal, which could possibly
represent a food and clothing source. We can observe the
spiral, which could possibly represent an understanding of the
Sun or the universe. We can observe a possible plant, could
represent another food or medicine source.
• These three objects together could very well paint the picture
of the primary things that were observed by the Mogollon
people that are essential for survival.

11. Exhibit C (Bowl)

12. Exhibit C (defined)
• This bowl bearing the image of a bat is said to be of the
Mogollon culture. Bats are frequently positioned in caves,
where some of the rock art has been found. Given the history
of bats, its extremely likely that the Mogollon people would
have had contact with them.
• It is not clear whether or not bats were regarded as sacred
creatures, however one can assume some level of esteem is
attributed to them in regards to placing them on a bowl. This
bowl really represents a relationship between the sky and
earth, as bats are the only mammals that can fly. This could
be a reason they’re placed on this bowl, or it could be that
bats were heavily populated in the region.
• Regardless they were important enough to be drawn.

13. Exhibit D

14. Exhibit D (defined)
• Amongst the Mogollon culture, animals of the
sky seem to emerge in the artistic expressions
of the people.
• This suggests that the Mogollon culture
observed the world and saw that life was
worth documenting.
• The bird pottery shows us that, the culture
had an affinity for understanding and
documenting creatures of the sky.

15. Conclusion