Hunter-Gatherer Canid Petroglyphs in the Wind River and Bighorn Basins of Wyoming ...

• Main Author: Stewart, James J.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: The Wyoming Archaeological Society 2001
• Subjects: Bighorn Basin; Wind River Basin; Late Prehistoric; Late Archaic; Protohistoric; Early Archaic; Middle Archaic; Shoshone; 48FR93; Coal Draw; 48FR1907; Twin Creek; 48HO692-B; 48HO693-C; 48HO692-F; 48HO692-A; 48HO392-C; Boysen Reservoir; 48HO362-A; 48HO392-A; 48FR43; 48HO4-1A; Beaver Creek; Legend Rock; 48HO4; Muddy Creek; 48FR372; 48FR2459; 48FR2461; 48FR202; Sinks Canyon; 48FR2498; Pavillion; Chipped Stone; Fauna; Altithermal; sheep eater; Anthropomorph; pecked; numic; paiute; puha; Comanche; Burial; uto-aztecean; Great Basin; proto-shoshonean; shaman; zoomorph
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.48512/xcv8476392; https://core.tdar.org/document/476392/hunter-gatherer-canid-petroglyphs-in-the-wind-river-and-bighorn-basins-of-wyoming

Big game, large bird, and canid (dog/wolf/coyote) figures are the most obvious zoomorph petroglyph motifs in the Bighorn and Wind River Basins. Canid petroglyph motifs, with many apparently dating 2000-6000 B.P., or possibly older, tend to prevail in specific areas of the southern Bighorn and northeastern Wind River Basins. The geographic distribution of these canid motifs appears to be more than coincidental. Examination of known/recorded Wind River and Bighorn Basin canid motif petroglyph figures is attempted in this paper. Some references to canid motifs occurring in other art forms, oral tradition, and historic accounts are also made. There is an endeavor to demonstrate many of the Wind River and Bighorn Basin canid petroglyph motifs appear to have a deliberate spatial relationship with other petroglyphs. These often include select anthropomorph motifs, thus creating possible "combined" or "shared" human/canid motifs. The Wyoming canid petroglyph motifs raise several questions. First, do the canid ...