The Beaver Creek Rock Art Style

Rock art is one type of archaeological data that can be used to identify prehistoric cultures and time periods. Various styles of rock art have been identified, based on the kinds of elements, unique elements, relationships between elements, and manufacturing techniques. By making these observations, various rock art styles have been defined for the prehistoric Southwest. One of these styles - the Beaver Creek Style - has been identified through the studies of rock art sites in the Beaver Creek area, especially here at V-Bar-V Ranch. This research has resulted in the definition of the Beaver Creek Style, which is diagnostic of the Southern Sinagua between A.D. 1150 and 1400. During this same time period, to the south, the Hohokam produced the Gila Petroglyph Style, noted for its stick figure and hour glass-shaped humans, humans with headdresses, dancing scenes, animals, meandering lines, mazes, and especially circular designs such as dots, sunbursts, concentric circles, and spirals. To the north, the Kayenta produced rigid stick figures, "lizard-men", pottery or textile-like geometric designs, hand prints, footprints, and animals, especially mountain sheep. Many rock art styles can have animal figures, human figures, and geometrics, but it is how they are made and grouped together, and the elements that appear in one style but not another, that separate different rock art styles.

The documentation of the V-Bar-V Ranch Petroglyph Site has provided important information for defining important characteristics of the Beaver Creek Style

The Beaver Creek Style is restricted to petroglyphs, but not pictographs (painted rock art).	Sinagua shield pictograph from Red Cliffs, part of the Palatki Archaeological Site west of Sedona. Nothing remotely like this at V-V.
The majority of Beaver Creek Style petroglyphs are made by indirect percussion, indicated by well-defined edges and circular, evenly-sized pecks. This indicates they were made using a hammerstone and sharpened chisel-like stone. In contrast, Hohokam petroglyphs of the Gila Style, for example, were mostly made by direct percussion - simply striking the rock with the edge of a hammerstone.	Example of direct percussion, with poor definition and ragged edges.
	Indirect percussion - good edge definition.
Most elements tend to occur separately, with very little overlap or superpositioning.	Detail from lower left-hand corner of main panel; there is some superposition in the lower left area (the only place at the site where it occurs to this degree); the rest of the elements are separate and non-overlapping, even though they may touch at some points.
Animals are a dominant element in the style, especially meandering lines that suggest snakes.
Elements tend to be paired with similar elements. Pairs of turtle-like figures, for example, are especially prevalent.
Unusually large paired female figures. Females are identified by the knobs on each side of their head, which are believed to represent the "squash blossom" or "butterfly whorl" hairstyle, worn historically by unmarried Hopi women.	Paired women from the left panel
A "mountain-lion-like" element on top of a "deer-like" element.

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