Field Club - October 7, 2015

Archaeological Tour of Shavano Valley Ute Petroglyph Site

Time and place: Wednesday October 7, 2015, 4:00 to 5:30 pm at the Shavano Valley Rock Art Conservation Easement. Montrose, CO. $5 fee per person charged by the Archeological Conservancy. Additional $10 suggested donation to the Black Canyon Regional Land Trust. $5 attendence fee only for members of BCRLT. Directions will be emailed to confirmed attendees.

Click to make your membership donation to the Black Canyon Regional Land Trust!

Click to RSVP or contact Alecia, Executive Director & Field Club Coordinator.

The 42-acre Shavano Valley Rock Art site west of Montrose, Colorado, is considered the premier rock art site of the Uncompahgre Plateau and Valley area. The site contains extensive Archaic through historic Ute period (1,000 B.C.-1900) petroglyphs, and has been at the center of western Colorado rock art research since the early 20th century, having been used to define rock art traditions and styles, and to interpret cultural continuity and change in the region. Twenty-six petroglyph panels have been identified across the lower portion of the site, including representations of the Bear Dance ceremony, the cosmic tree, and other religious iconography that continue to hold significance for Ute peoples today.

The property is owned and managed by The Archaeological Conservancy, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to aquiring and preserving archeological sites discovered on private land. The property was previously owned and managed by the Montrose Community Foundation, who created an interpretive trail and trail guide at the site. Wanting to ensure the site’s educational, research and traditional ceremonial potential was fully utilized, the property was sold to the Archaeological Conservancy with grant assistance from the Colorado Historical Fund. A condition of the grant was to place the property in a conservation easement, thereby eliminating the risk of development or major disturbance to the land by any future owner of the property. Black Canyon Regional Land Trust was approached to hold the conservation easement, and is proud to be a partner in this collaborative community endeavor. While TAC will retain much of the responsibility for stewarding the Shavano Rock Art Site, BCRLT visits the property every year to make sure the terms of the conservation easement are upheld in perpetuity. 

Lead archaeologist and site steward Carol Patterson will lead our Field Club tour of the property beginning at 4:00 pm on Wednesday Oct. 7. The walking tour will last approximately 1 to 1.5 hours and is not steep or strenuous. Carol will be giving a presentation to the Montrose County Historical Society about the site that same evening, beginning at 7:00 pm at the Montrose County Fairgrounds Friendship Hall. Field Clubbers interested in attending the presentation will need to RSVP separately to the Montrose County Historical Society. Please contact: 

 Thank you to our partner for this event: