Texas Tech University

At the Regional Sites

TTU at Junction's Rattlesnake Canyon part of National Historic Landmark 

By Natalie Cervantes, Student Assistant

A cave drawing on brown rock that displays what appears to be a large animal towering over other smaller animals.

Pecos River Style pictographs found in Rattlesnake Canyon Site in Val Verde County, Texas.

A cave drawing on brown rock that displays what appears to be a large animal towering over other smaller animals.

Pecos River Style pictographs found in Rattlesnake Canyon Site in Val Verde County, Texas.

The Rattlesnake Canyon, located in Val Verde County, Texas, managed by Texas Tech University at Junction, is named a part of a National Historic Landmark.

In Jan. 2021, the Lower Pecos Canyonland Archeological District was named a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Services. Rattlesnake Canyon is one of the 35 contributing sites of the landmark.

Karen Lopez TTU at Junction adviser gave information on Rattlesnake Canyon.

“Rattlesnake Canyon is a 100-acre canyon within a 10,000-acre ranch with a 100' panel of rock art dating over 4,000 years old,” Lopez said. “It has been deemed to be one of the best-preserved panels in the world.”

Pictographs and petroglyphs are what is depicted in the rock art located in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands. Pictographs are painted images, and pictographs are images that are carved into a surface.

Discovering the images in the canyonlands has revealed historical stories and information.

“The art at the site is considered one of the most outstanding in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands. That art is dense and quite complex and has tremendous potential to provide new information related to the ritual practices and world view of people residing here during the Middle and Late Archaic,” stated in the National Historic Landmark Nomination document for the Lower Pecos Canyonland Archeological District regarding the art found at the Rattlesnake Canyon.

Audrey K Lindsay, writer of “Perspectives on Pictographs: Differences in Rock Art Recording Frameworks of the Rattlesnake Canyon Pictograph Panel,” collected information on Rattlesnake Canyon for her dissertation in the department of anthropology at Northern Arizona University.

A cave drawing on brown rock that displays what appears to be a tall human towering over their surrounding environment.

A cave panel located within Rattlesnake Canyon.

A cave drawing on brown rock that displays what appears to be a tall human towering over their surrounding environment.

A cave panel located within Rattlesnake Canyon.

According to her dissertation, in the Lower Pecos region, rock art has been studied, analyzed and documented by many. The canyon has attracted the attention of archeologists and artists since the 1930s.

One of the most documented sites of the Lower Pecos Canyonlands includes Rattlesnake Canyon's pictograph panel. Many groups and individuals have gathered research and documentation of the Rattlesnake Canyon mural.

In Sept. 1997, the Rattlesnake Canyon mural was registered in the National Register of Historic Places. This recognition provided Federal protection to the canyon.

Texas Tech Acquired the Rattlesnake Canyon in Nov. 1981. The Stribling family gifted it; this also included some surrounding land. It still is owned by Tech and is managed by regional site TTU at Junction.

The National Historic Landmark by the National Park services is the newest recognition and significant designation the Rattlesnake Canyon has received.

TTU at Junction is excited to be a part of the designation and is excited about Rattlesnake Canyon's future.