OSHER 225 - Indigenous Rock Imagery: A (Non-Indigenous) Twenty-first Century Perspective

This course will introduce students to the prehistoric people who created rock imagery (aka rock art) across the state of Utah, and expose them to the challenges of interpreting these traces of the past. The most common question people ask when faced with prehistoric rock imagery is "What does this mean?" and it's a question that archaeologists are uniquely suited to… avoid answering. Why is that? And to whom can we turn for answers? We will dive into the challenge of interpretation, and you may be surprised where the conversations lead you!