Rock art is extremely fragile and extremely precious, so don t touch any of the figures or disturb any artifacts found in the canyon. These are irreplaceable treasures. B.C. Later, the ancestral Puebloan cultures left their marks in the canyon, but apparently stayed only briefly. These early cultures were followed by modern cultures cattle and sheep ranchers, oil prospectors, miners, and now, park visitors. Throughout all this use, however, the special character of the canyon has been wonderfully preserved.
All visitors have the responsibility to do their part to keep it that way.
The Great Gallery is the last of four interpretive stops made by the ranger. When you reach the Great Gallery, stop for lunch, rest awhile, and marvel at a few things. For example, even though the pictographs have faded slightly through the centuries, how did the early cultures come up with a paint that lasted three thousand years. The ranger might toss out a few theories, and the NPS keeps some interpretive handouts at the Great Gallery, but nobody really knows what went on at the Great Gallery thirty centuries ago. .