Val Verde County, Texas October, 2005: Panther Cave, a large rock shelter famous for its elaborate prehistoric pictographs, lies on the left bank of Seminole Canyon just above its confluence with the Rio Grande. The site is named for the largest and most dramatic figure, a large leaping cat, but at least four more cats are discernible in the mass of overpainting that covers the rear of the main shelter. Several human figures wear headdresses resembling feline ears. ©Bob Daemmrich
Val Verde County, Texas October, 2005: Panther Cave Site is a large rockshelter famous for its elaborate prehistoric pictographs, lies on the left bank of Seminole Canyon just above its confluence with the Rio Grande. The site is named for the largest and most dramatic figure, a large leaping cat, but at least four more cats are discernible in the mass of overpainting that covers the rear of the main shelter. Several human figures wear headdresses resembling feline ears; the emphasis on this motif suggests it is a totemic or territorial symbol. The pictographs, have been studied by scholars since 1932, and the Lowe Pecos pictograph style is based on superimposition, stylistic attributes, and similarities between objects recovered in systematic excavations and those painted in the pictographs. The art of Panther Cave belongs to the Pecos River Style, the predominant Lower Pecos art form, roughly dated to the Archaic Period, ca. 7000 to 600,characterized by large, costumed, faceless, anthropomorphic figures generally called shamans and is considered to be a religious or magical ceremonial art. ©Bob Daemmrich
Size: 2100px × 1395px
Location: Val Verde County Texas USA
Photo credit: © Bob Daemmrich / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: american, ancient, art, artifacts, cave, historical, indian, indigenous, iwi, native, paintings, panther, pictographs, prehistoric, rock, southwest, texas
