La Cieneguilla Petroglyphs

At the La Cieneguilla Petroglyphs adjacent to La Cieneguilla Pueblo, LA 16, rock art occurs in varying density for over 2 km, though the precise ends of the distribution are hard to specify.

Panels occur along the top of the escarpment as well as in side canyons, on boulders, and at different levels. This remarkable assemblage of petroglyphs has been studied and recorded by a number of people. The Petroglyphs por los Niños survey in 1991 conducted by Jose Villegas and Jeff Nelson recorded over 4400 images within a kilometer and a half. Bird images were the most common motif: 1385 were counted. Dennis Slifer (2000) documents many images from this assemblage.

La Cieneguilla Petroglyphs

A rock art survey by the Rock Art Recording Project-Santa Fe, coordinated by Gary Hein and partially funded by the Friends of Archaeology, is ongoing  The current survey is focusing on the less well known, northern portion of the petroglyph field. This recording project documents that large numbers of petroglyphs occur above the lower escarpment. Isolated images from these panels also show up in other publications. The rock art is predominantly Puebloan, mostly Pueblo IV. There are some probable Archaic panels as well as historic images and modern graffiti. Being adjacent to Santa Fe, this area has been used in a number of ways. One of the more destructive ones is the ongoing use of the area for target practice, which sometimes includes shooting at rock art (see photo above) and, more recently, paint ball defacement.

The site is owned and managed by the Bureau of Land Management, and is accessible from a parking area next to Paseo Real, County Road 56.