The archaeology of Comb Ridge, a vast swath of land in Utah (it is currently part of Bears Ears National Monument), is absolutely amazing, with hundreds of rock art panels, dispersed habitation sites, granaries, and so on.  However, hiking Comb Ridge in June is a terrible idea and a bunch of friends and I decided to venture out regardless.  It was boiling hot, exposed, sandy–ugh.  At least there’s rock art.  A ridiculous amount of rock art.  Viewing the Procession Panel definitely made up for any discomfort!  It is thought that the 179 petroglyph figures may depict some kind of ceremonial gathering or migration story.  But, as with most rock art, the interpretation is a bit up in the air.  I had some trouble finding information about this specific panel; one website notes that it may date to the Late Basket Maker period (ca 450-750 AD), but it doesn’t provide any evidence to support that particular date.

*Please note: rock art is incredibly fragile.  Do not touch rock art, spray-paint it, or vandalize it in any way.  Not only is it ethically wrong, it is illegal (see blog post on ARPA).