“What Were They Thinking?”(Reading The Writing On the Wall)

DC-CAS Monday, February 9, 2026 General Meeting

– 7:00pm MT (Online Only)

Speaker: Anne Whitfield, President of the Colorado Rock Art Association

Our meetings are free and open to the public.  Members will receive the Zoom link by email.  If you are not a member and would like to attend this talk, please Contact Us to receive the Zoom link.

Abstract:  A SPECTACULAR rock art site on private land in eastern Colorado is in the final stage of site recording.  The project is sponsored by the CAS Chapter, Pueblo Archaeological and Historical Society.  This webinar about the site is one of the first given to the public.  There are 24 panels involved.  The panel series is unusual in image concentration, complexity,  time periods, and variability of contributors.  Simply put, many Plains Indigenous Peoples came to this spot.  They often left their stories on the walls!  Site panels are introduced by their apparent themes.  Simple math reveals an implied hierarchy of concerns, suggesting what issues may have been most on the minds of the image makers.  It is hoped that this approach gives us a glimpse into their world view and personal concerns. . . in other words, “What they were thinking? “ 

Bio:  Anne and her husband moved to Colorado from North Carolina in the 1970s.  Gainfully  employed as a full-time science teacher in Pueblo County, most of her experience with rock writing has come from nearly 20 years of summer volunteering with the US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Parks Services.  She has also done project and seasonal work for professional archaeologists.  Anne is a University of North Carolina graduate, with a BS in Secondary Education Science.  She also earned an MA in Applied Natural Sciences. 

At various times, since the inception of the Colorado Rock Art Association (CRAA), she has been Vice President, Treasurer, Board Member, Field Trip Chair, Membership Chair, and CAS Representative.  Primary Chapter involvements included coordinating rock art recordation and monitoring projects.  Many of them were Forest Service-supervised efforts in Picketwire Canyon.  She played a similar role at Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site.  She had the pleasure of recording “arborglyphs”(carvings on trees) at Bryce Canyon National Monument.  Additional  rock art recording work was done on private ranches.  For nearly ten years,  Anne has been a volunteer at the Colorado Rock Art Association Archive, preparing rock art photographic for digitization and placement for online access by the public.  

Anne is the current president of the Colorado Rock Art Association.

Upcoming:

Saturday, March 14, 2026 - DC-CAS/AIA Joint Meeting with speaker Dr. Kayeleigh Sharp, Northern University of Arizona. She will be speaking on her recent work in Peru.