A snake petroglyph or pictograph can have many meanings (such as reincarnation, a snake shedding its skin). A snake appearing to leave a crack in the wall (such as the first panel), or sometimes entering one, likely marks a water source in the same spot, coming from the top of the cliff, somewhere, then into the crack.
In the case of the red vertical snakes, this likely marks runoff, such as a small waterfall. The shield (circle) on the first panel marks an underground waterway. Sometimes, if you have two shields in an area, the distance between one and the other, marks the width of the underground channel. A large shield by itself, likely measures the distance in itself. Each line extending from the shield probably refers to days, or lunar cycles. ?
Interesting to note about these underground passages of waterโto the natives living there, they were considered sacred, and may not have even been drinkable, or obtainable. To them, it was their equivalent of heavenโit was where they came from, and where they would return, and where all their ancestors had gone. They would try to remain close to these spots, for this reason.
Ironically, all these snake graphs were found in the same space as the rattlesnake we found the other day. If you haven’t seen the rattlesnake post, you can see it at the link below:
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=193463725475948&id=106240620864926
*Special thanks to Michael Chappell for providing his interpretations. Michael has worked with world-renowned archaeologists, and has himself visited the area.
