Grimes Point
Grimes Point Archaeological Site is located a few miles east of Fallon, Nevada, and is one of the largest and most accessible petroglyph (rock art) sites in the United States. There are hundreds of boulders in this locality with petroglyphs inscribed in them. Designs include circles, wavy lines, human figures, snakes, and other animal figures. The rock art is believed to be about 6,000 years old. These pictures were taken in September of 2005.
The depressions and the grooves seen in this and the next picture
are made by a method called "pit and groove," and is believed to be
the oldest at this site, dating back some 7,000 years.
They were made by striking the boulder with another rock. Another
method used here is called "Great Basin pecked" thought to date from
1,000 to 1,500 years, BC.
More examples of Petroglyphs.
One of the oldest petroglyph styles are seen as wavy lines and
circular shapes. They could be as much as 3,000 years old.
The straighter lines and angular shapes are newer, dating back 500
to 2,000 years.
More examples of Petroglyphs.
Still more. These are difficult to see. When the petroglyphs are
made, the top layer of the rock is removed, exposing the lighter
material underneath.
The dark surface of the rock is called a patina, and is formed as a
result of chemical changes taking place over time.
The petroglyphs are easily seen
in this picture.
Try to imagine how long it took for this rock art to be created. It
took a lot of time and patience.
In this picture you can see the grooves are darkening.
An overview of part of the archaeological site.
This shows the way to the Hidden Caves. The building on the left
side of the picture contains the rest rooms.
This entire area (along with most of Nevada and parts of the
neighboring states) was under water during prehistoric times. The
hills in the center of this picture depict the ancient shoreline of
Lake Lahontan.
An overlook along the trail to the Hidden Caves.
Here is one of the rock
formations at the Hidden Caves
This is one of the trails I walked to part of the Hidden Caves area.
An overview of some of the Hidden Caves.
Another perspective of the same
view.
A closeup of one type of rock formation at the Hidden Caves. This
type of formation is the same as the Tufa towers at Mono Lake, CA.
These are formed under water by the action of fresh water streams on
alkaline lake water. More information on Mono Lake can be found at
www.monolake.org.
Another cave. These caves are actually pretty small, but they are
interesting to view.
Another type of rock formation at Hidden Caves.
A view of the desert looking Northeast from Grimes Point. Highway 50
is out of view to the left of the picture.
More rock formations at Hidden Caves.
This picture is taken from grimes Point, looking towards the Hidden
Caves area, which is on the other side of the outcropping.