The most common figure found from Mesa Verde to southern Arizona is Kokopelli, sometimes playing a flute, sometimes humpbacked as if carrying a pack. Most anthropologists think he represents the traveling trader, says Tammy Stone, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Colorado at Denver and author of a new book, The Prehistory of Colorado and Adjacent Areas. Stone says there are marked similarities among the petroglyphs of the Southwest, and marked differences with those found farther north, which differ in style and subject matter. But all tend to convey the culture of the times. Snakes, found all over this arid land, represent where to find water, says Moore.
Horned snakes are water gods.
Birds flying up into the sky, often into clouds, may represent prayers for rain. Moore doesn't think the images represent writing. Although they are not writing, they are intended as communication. Some petroglyphs are undoubtedly of a sacred nature. But not all are serious.