Hueco Tanks Rock Art — Comanche Cave Panel
Archaic Hueco (6000 BCE) → Jornada Mogollon (1200 CE) → Tigua/Mescalero pictographs·Jornada Mogollon / Apache Comanche·🇺🇸 Texas, El Paso County, Hueco Tanks State Historical Park, United States
About
About Hueco Tanks Rock Art — Comanche Cave Panel
El Paso huecos excavated by Jackson 1920s, 3000 pictographs, Comanche Cave masks 1000 CE. Recorded context — Period: Archaic Hueco (6000 BCE) → Jornada Mogollon (1200 CE) → Tigua/Mescalero pictographs; Culture: Jornada Mogollon / Apache Comanche; Field status: partially excavated; Materials: syenite, pigment; Condition: preserved — state park guided.
Why it mattersKey Jornada Mogollon / Apache Comanche rock-art with stratified sequence and regional typology.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Chronology and phasing
- 02Function of enclosure
Theories
- 01Seasonal gathering
- 02Territorial marker
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 1000 CE masks; 6000 BCE archaic; 1700 CE Comanche horse
- Period
- Archaic Hueco (6000 BCE) → Jornada Mogollon (1200 CE) → Tigua/Mescalero pictographs
- Culture
- Jornada Mogollon / Apache Comanche
- Purpose
- 3000 Years of paint — masks, rain priests with flute and Apache horsemen in hueco tanks
- Rediscovered
- Modern excavation 1863
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c. 1000 CE masks; 6000 BCE archaic; 1700 CE Comanche horse
Initial construction / first occupation at Hueco Tanks Rock Art — Comanche Cave Panel
1890 excavation
Modern rediscovery and scientific excavation of Hueco Tanks Rock Art — Comanche Cave Panel
On the ground
Structures & features
31.9220° N · 106.0450° W · 1430 m · 4 mapped features
- Hueco Tanks Rock Art — Comanche Cave Panel — Principal Structurestructurestructure at Hueco Tanks Rock Art — Comanche Cave Panel — subsidiary complex31.9223° N · 106.0463° W
- Hueco Tanks Rock Art — Comanche Cave Panel — Northern Complexcomplexcomplex at Hueco Tanks Rock Art — Comanche Cave Panel — subsidiary complex31.9226° N · 106.0447° W
- Hueco Tanks Rock Art — Comanche Cave Panel — Southern Rock Artrock artrock art at Hueco Tanks Rock Art — Comanche Cave Panel — subsidiary complex31.9216° N · 106.0451° W
- Hueco Tanks Rock Art — Comanche Cave Panel — Eastern Structurestructurestructure at Hueco Tanks Rock Art — Comanche Cave Panel — primary structure31.9230° N · 106.0451° W
Gallery