SSR logo
Sacred Sites Research
Sacred Sites Research
Sacred Sites Research

Documentation

1

The documentation of rock art sites has changed significantly in recent years. Global Positioning Systems and digital photography are two changes but as with many new technologies there have been spinoffs that are useful for recording rock art sites.

Consultation

2

With the passage of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act and other federal laws, American Indians are guaranteed the right to visit their sacred sites. Significantly, during consultation American Indians frequently ask to visit rock art sites.

Analysis

3

Rock art can provide archaeology with a rich source of ideographic, symbolic, and ritual meaning. Sacred Sites Research frequently combines rock art locational information with ethnographic and historical documents to offer explanations for the images at the sites.

Sacred Sites Research

SSR records North American Indian pictograph and petroglylph sites and conducts associated research at traditional cultural properties such as vision quest areas, ceremonial caves, pigment sources, and ancient trails. Seeking out sites on private lands in danger of being damaged or destroyed, we attempt to fully document their significant characteristics and value for all. This effort is funded through grants, private contributions, and the cooperation of private landowners, as well as from contractual grants with federal agencies. Sacred Sites Research is particularly indebted to the numerous advocates and volunteers in this effort to achieve the following objectives:

  • Record, protect and preserve pictographs and petroglyphs at sacred sites that are important to American Indian nations, their heritage and traditions
  • Create a photographic record, artistic renderings, and written documentation for these sites that will be available for use by all concerned, including the Native Americans, the public and private stewards, the landowners and the developers
  • Substantiate dates of the cultural context of a site, where possible, through scientific means and the newest technologies
  • Document through the use of the ethnographic record, and in consultation with American Indian consultants, possible cultural identities, migration and timelines
  • Educate the public and land stewards to the significance of sacred sites and methods for their protection and management

Why Hire SSR for Your Next Project?

Sacred Sites Research is North America’s premier rock art documentation company. Larry Loendorf. President of Sacred Sites Research has over 50 years of experience at successfully recording rock art sites across the western United States. Sacred Sites Research has recorded numerous large and complex sites at locations like the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site, Fort Carson Colorado. We have also worked at small sites with only a single panel.

Project personnel include experienced and talented artists and photographers who document sites in a timely and cost efficient manner. Sacred Sites Research maintains excellent working relationships with specialists for tasks like three-dimension recording, pigment analyses using pXRF instruments, and rock art dating.

Learn more about archaeological practices at The Society for American Archaeology website.

Sacred Sites Research is a non-profit (501c3) company.

Donate:

Sacred Sites Research, Inc. (SSR) undertakes funded projects at competitive costs, but SSR primary personnel do not receive salaries or compensation. Instead we use that money and the assistance of other volunteers to record rock art sites where no funding is available.

Support the protection and preservation of rock art sites. Your tax deductible dollars will be used saving rock art sites.