New England Seabirds | Wandering Birder |North America | American Rock Art North American Rock Art While wandering North America, I have visited several sites with ancient rock carvings and paintings made by native Americans. Rock art can be made by using a stone to peck images in the surface of the rock, by carving a line with a sharp stone, by painting, or by a combination of all three methods. The above is a picture of Newspaper Rock State Park outside Moab, Utah. The black surface of the stone is called desert varnish and is a layer on top of the rock. This picture was made by pecking away the desert varnish. Above is a larger picture of newspaper rock. Notice the man hunting with bow and arrow from the back of a horse. This dates this part of the art to at least some time after the mid 1500's because the plains Native Americans did not have the horse until after it was reintroduced to North America by the Spanish. Hands, feet, animals, spirals, wheels are familiar themes in North American rock art. Outside Arches National Park near Moab Utah. Capitol Reef National Park Freemont Indian Drawings Dinosaur National Monument