As you travel around the Colorado Plateau, you have a great opportunity to discover and learn about the ancient cultures of the region. In the Dinosaur National Monument area, you will find evidence of a group of Native Americans we call the Fremont people, who lived here about 1,000 years ago. However, it was the Fremont who left the most visible reminders of their presence, in the form of their rock art.
Pictographs are relatively rare here, perhaps because they are more easily weathered.
The style and content of Fremont rock art vary throughout the region. The anthropomorphs typically have trapezoidal bodies, which may or may not include arms, legs, fingers, and toes. They are often elaborately decorated with designs suggesting headdresses, earrings, and necklaces, and they may hold shields or other objects. The zoomorphs include recognizable bighorn sheep, birds, snakes, and lizards, as well as more abstract animal-like shapes. Purely abstract or geometric designs, such as circles, spirals, and various combinations of lines, are common.