Horseshoe Canyon — Barrier Canyon Great Gallery
Barrier Canyon Style (3000 BCE–500 CE)·Barrier Canyon archaic (pre-Fremont)·🇺🇸 Utah, Canyonlands National Park, Horseshoe Canyon Unit, Great Gallery, United States
About
About Horseshoe Canyon — Barrier Canyon Great Gallery
Horseshoe Great Gallery recorded by Schaafsma 1970s, Archaic Barrier Style before Anasazi.
Why it mattersKey Barrier Canyon archaic (pre-Fremont) rock-art with stratified sequence and regional typology.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Function of enclosure
- 02Construction labor organization
Theories
- 01Observatory
- 02Seasonal gathering
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 1500 BCE Great Gallery life-size figures
- Period
- Barrier Canyon Style (3000 BCE–500 CE)
- Culture
- Barrier Canyon archaic (pre-Fremont)
- Purpose
- Barrier Canyon giant anthropomorph pictographs — 7 m Holy Ghost panel of 20 m ghost-like figures
- Rediscovered
- Modern excavation 1983
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c. 1500 BCE major extension
Major expansion / refurbishment at Horseshoe Canyon — Barrier Canyon Great Gallery
1970 excavation
Modern rediscovery and scientific excavation of Horseshoe Canyon — Barrier Canyon Great Gallery
c. 1500 BCE Great Gallery life-size figures
Initial construction / first occupation at Horseshoe Canyon — Barrier Canyon Great Gallery
On the ground
Structures & features
38.4480° N · 110.2070° W · 1430 m · 3 mapped features
Horseshoe Canyon — Barrier Canyon Great Gallery — Principal Structure
structurestructure at Horseshoe Canyon — Barrier Canyon Great Gallery — subsidiary complex
38.4464° N · 110.2084° WHorseshoe Canyon — Barrier Canyon Great Gallery — Northern Complex
complexcomplex at Horseshoe Canyon — Barrier Canyon Great Gallery — primary structure
38.4493° N · 110.2058° WHorseshoe Canyon — Barrier Canyon Great Gallery — Rock_Art Annex 3
rock artrock art at Horseshoe Canyon — Barrier Canyon Great Gallery — subsidiary complex
38.4477° N · 110.2053° W