Petroglyphs: Journal of Antiquities

Petroglyph: Petro-combined form, meaning rock or stone; Glyphs-a shallow vertical channel or carved fluting. (Greek- glyphein: to carve)

After a recent movie night, where I watched
the DVD of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,
I decided that a Journal of Antiquities
would be a fun project.  Indie's dad, Henry Sr.,
had spent years creating

a research journal of all the clues

to finding the Holy Grail. Of course it was
chased  all the way through the movie
and passes through many hands,
both villain and hero...

cryptic clues, diagrams and

drawings make it pretty cool...

I purchased a small journal with
pages 3 1/2" x 5 1/2 ".

I began my search for treasure in a
reference book in our local library.
Amazing diagrams, photos,

maps and explanations fill the book...

Native Americans taking the time to
carve these in stone with
primitive tools must have been

a labor of love, or perhaps
a search for power...

The author of the book didn't claim to know

what these human figures represented.

I have to say it looks to me like there

is some hanky-panky going on!

Perhaps a fertility drawing?

~~~

My antiquities 'research' will continue as

I am fond of ancient cultures and their art:

Egyptian, Mayan, Native American.

There may be some European religious Icons to

be drawn and admired.

Take the journey with me...

Art Journal Page-Tribal

"We evolve at the rate
of the tribe
we are plugged into."
-Carolyn Myers

This quote caught my eye and inspired
the use of tribal African art designs.
The drawing of the sculpture is from an image
in the book "Black Africa" by
Laure Meyer. It is
the crowned head of an Oni from the
12-15th century in brass & zinc alloy.
It is striking because the sculpture has
contour lines carved into the face.
The geometric forms are from
Plank Masks, used for family
rituals or funerals.
It is interesting that these
geometric forms also resemble
the forms of other tribal art, such as
Native American. Seems
that the triangle
is universal.