A short walk up the slope will take you to a petroglyph panel. The sandstone walls of Chaco Canyon were an important place for the people to record images and symbols. Pictographs are images painted onto the rock. Both types of imagery occur near the great houses, at isolated panels, at shrines, and at sites that marked astronomical observations. Pueblo and Hopi descendants often recognize the images as meaningful symbols.
Some petroglyphs represent clan symbols.
These clan symbols can affirm ancient and ongoing associations to the sites and mark the paths of their clan's sacred migrations. The Future Una Vida will not be excavated in the foreseeable future for several reasons. Leaving sites in their natural states of preservation covered with blown sand and native vegetation is the best means of preserving the site. Removing the sand and clearing the rooms exposes the walls to rain, freeze-thaw cycles, and hastens their destruction. It also creates a difficult, costly, and ongoing maintenance problem to preserve the exposed walls.