Riddles on the Rocks: A Tour of Selected North American Rock Art Sites

America’s dry southwestern climate preserves untold numbers of rock art sites within its far-flung network of canyons, cliffs and caves. It’s a poetic domain of holy people and ceremonies in a magical land of earth and sky. The Native art in this booklet ranges from America’s oldest (10,500–14,800 years old) to a recent Navajo sand-painting created and then ritually destroyed as a necessary part of a healing ceremony in 1993. My painter-wife, Erma Martin Yost, and I were struck by the beauty of this rugged region when we first visited in 1976 and now, after four decades, we continue to return whenever we can. We typically fly to Albuquerque, Grand Junction or Las Vegas and then point our rental car in the direction of the Four Corners, taking in the wide vistas so opposite of our eastern home. We follow the trail of the rock art and talk with locals, gaining a sense of understanding while making new discoveries. We know we will never see all the rock art or its secret canyon repositories but each site we visit offers its own clues to the riddles left by the first Americans. This booklet is a collection of images and stories gathered from 40-years walking, observing and photographing. 70 pages, 80 color images

Leon Yost is a professional photographer who has worked as a location scout for the BBC and is published in Time-Life Books, American Photo, The New York Times and many other publications. He has documented Native American rock art with his painter-wife Erma Martin Yost since 1976. Other books by Leon Yost: Changing Jersey City, a history in photographs, co-author with Cynthia Harris, 2009; A Tour of Australian Rock Art, 2017