Intestine Man is the name given to describe this pictograph, a rock art drawing located in southern Utah, near the town of Moab. The art displays an anthropomorphic being with what appears to be a detailed depiction of human intestines. This is only an interpretation of course since no equivalent of the “Rosetta Stone” exists in North American archaeology that would allow a complete understanding of this or other forms of rock art found in the American Southwest. Though many believe rock art is often a depiction of spiritual matters, and day to day life at the time they were created.
This particular form of rock art is known as the Barrier Canyon Style (BCS), whose name is derived from Barrier Canyon (now called Horseshoe Canyon) which lies to the west of Moab in an extension of Canyonlands National Park. Within Horseshoe Canyon resides the largest and best-preserved examples of the Barrier Canyon Style, in a series of rock art panels. The largest is known as the Great Gallery, with anthromorphs as tall as 7 feet. The panel itself is over 200 feet long. The precise dates of Intestine Man and the Great Gallery are not known, but radiocarbon dating suggests some of the rock art may stretch back 7,000 years or more during the Archaic Indian period. At least 230 locations of Barrier Canyon art have been found so far, with researchers estimating there could be as many as 400.
Academic Discussion of the Dating of Barrier Canyon-Style Rock Art (PDF)
BCS Project – Recording Barrier Canyon Rock Art Sites
Traces of a Lost People : Who roamed the Colorado Plateau thousands of years ago? And what do their stunning paintings signify? – Smithsonian Magazine (2005)
Suggested Reading:
A Field Guide to Rock Art Symbols of the Greater Southwest – Alex Patterson
Ancient Peoples of the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau – Steven R. Simms
Related Articles:
Top Pictograph/Petroglyph Sites in Utah