Petroglyphs and Social Structure: a new individualistic interpretation of petroglyphs

Former approaches to the interpretations of petroglyphs have interpreted petroglyphs as works of art (Robb, 1973), which are examples of individualistic interpretations. Other approaches have interpreted petroglyphs based on conversations to extract information from elders of the tribes who had connections with the petroglyphs (Sanders, 2017), which are examples of ethnographic interpretations. However, the former approaches have not considered interpreting petroglyphs from a sociological perspective. In this paper, I will consider a new type of individualistic interpretation to petroglyphs by considering the relationships between petroglyphs or rock art and the society, and how the purpose of petroglyphs arises from this relationship as the symbolic expression of the fundamental basis of the society. I will apply sociological theory as well as theory within the field of ritual and symbolism. I will show that petroglyphs are a symbolic form of communicating the structure of the society in that they take the aspects of a society and give each individual aspect a symbolic meaning.