Three Rivers Petroglyph Site (Part 1)

Three Rivers Petroglyph Site encompasses about 50 acres of the northern Chihuahuan Desert around Three Rivers, NM that is protected by the Bureau of Land Management.

The site is known as Three Rivers because Indian Creek, Golondrina Creek, and Three Rivers converge near it.

The Three Rivers petroglyphs were carved over a long period of time between 200-1450 by the inhabitants of a nearby village.

The petroglyphs were almost certainly etched by Jornada Mogollon Native Americans, a culture of which there are no known modern descendants.

Although many of the petroglyphs were etched relatively quickly, others, like this one, were painstakingly created by pecking away at the dark exterior patina of the rock with two stones used like a hammer and chisel.

It took six years for the Archaeological Society of New Mexico’s Rock Art Recording Field School to document the over 21,000 petroglyphs at Three Rivers.

The purpose and meaning of the petroglyphs are not known. Many simply depict plants and animals that the people interacted with in the area while others may have had religious significance.

Jornada Mogollon style faces and masks are usually depicted round, with almond-shaped eyes, and triangular noses.

Three Rivers Petroglyph Site lies in the Tularosa Basin, a virtually flat expanse of desert scrubland about 50 miles wide and 200 miles long that has been inhabited by humans for at least 10,000 years.

Petroglyph Trail follows this basaltic ridge.