Rock Art Around Las Vegas, White River Narrows Archeological District, Amphitheater Site

White River Narrows Archeological District
Amphitheater Site

Rock art is a precious resource. Please help protect and preserve these sites.

White River Narrows Arch. District, Amphitheater Site (view W)

Overview

The White River Narrows Archeological District is an area of outstanding petroglyphs that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. There on one major site (Amphitheater) and four minor sites (Calendar Fence, Martian Home, Cane Site A, and Ash Hill) in this area.

Amphitheater is the major site in this area and is composed of three well-marked panels and several ancillary petroglyph panels (listed below). The rock stories here include unvarnished carved stone and typical petroglyphs pecked into desert varnish. Unfortunately, the panels here have been badly marked by vandals.

The BLM and Lincoln County opened this area to the public. The BLM printed a single-sheet flier, and Lincoln County printed a 55-page brochure with information about the site (including GPS coordinates) as part of their Get Primitive tourism campaign. Download the brochure from Lincoln County or snatch a copy here.

Amphitheater Site trailhead sign in register box

Location

The White River Narrows Archeological District is located about 131 miles north of Las Vegas along Highway 318. For location details and waypoints, see White River Narrows Archeological District Overview. When driving in from the pavement, Martian Home is about 1.5 miles out and the second site along White River Narrows Road. Stay off the unpaved road if it is muddy.

Link to Map.

Trail End: Near Hwy 318 looking back at trailhead (view SE)

First Panel: Unvarnished Wall. The unvarnished wall is interesting because here the artists carved into the rock -- they had no varnish to peck off. The glyphs here are mostly abstract, but there is one nice footprint. This is also the only site here where petroglyphs are carved above eye level.




Photographer at work	Target and bullet holes

Second Panel: Corn and Agave

This small panel is very curious. I'm no expert, but I know of no other corn stalks and agave motifs in this region. This panel also seems to be organized rather than the miss-mash of glyphs usually seen. Signed by Carl Williams on Sept. 18, 1926, I wonder if Mr. Williams did the artwork?

There are differences between the workmanship of the "glyphs" and the the workmanship of the signature, so perhaps the corn and agave are real petroglyphs and represent the sharing of culture between people in this region and those in the 4-Corners area where such motifs are more common.

In about 2022, the powers that be determined that the name and date were added after the petroglyphs were created. As such, they removed the name and date from the panel. I'm not sure this was the right decision, but now it is what it is.

Panel before name and date were removed	Panel before name and date were removed
Panel after name and date were removed	Panel after name and date were removed

Third Panel: Long Varnished Wall

This long panel includes representational and abstract glyphs. Be sure to look around the corner on the right.

Approaching the Long Varnished Wall	Entire Long Varnished Wall
Left and right sides of Long Varnished Wall	Left side of Long Varnished Wall
Left side of Long Varnished Wall, left edge	Left side of Long Varnished Wall, left edge
Left side of Long Varnished Wall, right edge	Left side of Long Varnished Wall, center
Left side of Long Varnished Wall, right edge	Left side of Long Varnished Wall (view SE)
Right side of Long Varnished Wall	Right side of Long Varnished Wall, left edge
Right side of Long Varnished Wall, right edge	Right side of Long Varnished Wall
Right side of Long Varnished Wall	Right side of Long Varnished Wall
Right side of Long Varnished Wall	Right side of Long Varnished Wall
Right side of Long Varnished Wall (view SE)	Right side of Long Varnished Wall (view SE)
Right side of Long Varnished Wall (view W)	Right side of Long Varnished Wall (view W)
Right side of Long Varnished Wall (view W)	Right side of Long Varnished Wall
Right side of Long Varnished Wall, right corner	Right side of Long Varnished Wall, around right corner

Fourth Panel: Short Varnished Wall

This short panel includes representational and abstract glyphs. Be sure to look around the corner on the right.







Short Varnished Wall, right corner	Short Varnished Wall, around the right corner
Short Varnished Wall, around the right corner, upper section	Short Varnished Wall, around the right corner, upper section
Short Varnished Wall, around the right corner, upper section	Short Varnished Wall, around the right corner, upper section
Short Varnished Wall, around the right corner, lower section	Short Varnished Wall, around the right corner, lower section
Short Varnished Wall, around the right corner, lower section	Short Varnished Wall, around the right corner, lower section