Crow Canyon Petroglyphs

Crow Canyon is a historic site about 30 miles southeast of Farmington, New Mexico. Located in Dinйtah, the traditional homeland of the Navajo people, the site contains a variety of Navajo ruins and rock art from the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. The Crow Canyon Petroglyphs are the most extensive and well-known collection of 16th, 17th and 18th century Navajo petroglyphs (carved rock art) in the American Southwest. Earlier Ancestral Puebloan (a.k.a. Anasazi) images can also be found among the Navajo rock art. Hundreds of images of animals, humans, supernatural beings, and other images such as corn plants and bows and arrows can be found, carved on south and east-facing canyon walls. Most of the images are clustered in what are referred to as "panels," on the lower cliff faces of the canyon. Archaeologists believe the panels may have been associated with ceremonies, as many of the images are similar to Navajo ceremonial sand paintings. The Crow Canyon National Register Archaeological District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 for its examples of Navajo rock art and defensive pueblito sites. Please do not touch the rock art panels, as the acids on your skin can damage them.