The Paiute and Shoshone made pottery in historic times. The archaeological record tells of murder, beatings, and possibly of cannibalism. Nobody knows exactly what they mean. Symbols have meanings, but the meaning can be different for each person that looks at them. Obviously, some symbols represent humans or animals but most of the time the real meaning is unknown.
Petroglyphs are symbols pecked into the rock.
Pictographs are actually painted on the rock. In Utah, we have both types of rock art. Archaeologists also study the materials left behind by the European settlers in Utah. Archaeology is a science that studies all cultures, present and past. Some archaeologists specialize in underwater shipwrecks while some specialize in military forts, battlefields from the Civil War and pioneer sites.