Abstract
The paper presents the results of the research and initial analysis of the rock art from the Castle Rock Community, a cluster of Ancestral Pueblo sites, dated to the thirteenth century A.D. and located in southwestern Colorado, in the heart of the Mesa Verde region. The rock art in the area is represented by anthropomorphic figures (shamans or warriors) from the Basketmaker II period, but most of the rock art is from the Pueblo III period (1150-1280/1300 A.D.) and encompasses geometric designs as well as fighting scenes. The interpretation of the meaning and function of the rock art is rather difficult, but some depictions might be interpreted as clan symbols, watermarks, or as solar/lunar markers connected with astronomical observations. On almost every panel of rock art or close to it, historic inscriptions, initials, names and dates are also present. Most of the ancient rock art is located within the site’s (cliff dwellings) boundaries or very close to them, but certainly some paintings and petroglyphs are much older than the thirteenth century A.D. settlements.
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