Mogollon Civilization

Detailing the relationship between Sky & Earth.

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.

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”.

Exhibit A (Petroglyph)

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….

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.

Exhibit B(Petroglyph)

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…..

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.

•

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.

Exhibit C (Bowl)

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.

Exhibit D

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.

Works Cited

• http://www.rain.org/campinternet/southwest/anasazi-art-2000.html

• http://www.art-and-archaeology.com/timelines/northamer/wna.html

• http://www.desertusa.com/ind1/du_peo_mog.html

• http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/nm/mogollon.html