Pictographs at Keyhole Canyon, Henderson, Nevada
N 35° 42.916 W 114° 55.567
11S E 687596 N 3954350
These pictographs are available for public viewing.
Waymark Code: WMG9Q4
Location: Nevada, United States
Date Posted: 02/02/2013
Views: 19
This canyon is open for viewing of the pictographs, as well as hiking. It is located just south of Henderson, Nevada.
These petroglyphs are open for the public to view, and are located in Keyhole Canyon, which is about half way between Las Vegas and Searthlight. It is believed that these were created by individuals from the Mohave, Paiutue and Anasazi/Pueblo groups, as they identified as being in this area thousands of years ago. The pictographs here are considered unique because of the unusually large and round geometic designs, which cover several of the rock faces here. These are nearly identical to examples found in Southern Nevada. Scholars have surmised that the lack of figures of people in the glyphs suggest that these designs are representations of "creation mythology" rather than of history of the region. These shapes are thought to represent gods and spirits rather than people.
A possible "key" to de-coding these glyphs is listed here:
Circle: The highest level spirit, the source of everything
Bisected Circle: representing the separation of man and woman. The woman is the bisected circle with a male phallus.
Cross within a Circle: The Circle is the High Spirit and the cross represents completion; interpreted o mean the Spirit become whole when it separates into human-people of male and female.
You may be interested in learning more about this location, from these websites:
Nevada Public Rock Art, Keyhole Canyon:
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visit link)
Online Nevada: Keyhole Canyon Petroglyphs and Creation Mytholory:
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visit link)
Visit Instructions:1. You may log as many different waymarks as you wish but you may only log each one once.
2. You must include a close up photo of the pictograph and your GPSr. The pictograph must be recognizable.
3. Tell a little bit about what you learned of the area.