A Percussionist's Notebook

 During one Spring Break Patti and I spent a week on the Hopi mesas. We ate traditional Hopi food, visited private homes where the women displayed their pots and weaving and learned some of the traditional stories from some of the men. My favorite (and unexpected) part however, was when we stopped at a gas station below the mesa on our way home. As I was paying for our gas the man taking the payment had a recording of a recent dance ceremony that took place on top of one of the mesas. He couldn't stand still but was moving along with the rhythms of the recording. I was captivated, I started asking questions about the music and found out that he had led that particular ceremony. He spent the next 30 minutes talking about the importance of water for his people and the need to implore for spring rains for the coming crops. The important instrument for this ceremony is a wooden rasp placed on top of a gourd. Painted with a frog on one side and the symbol for rain on the other, the soun...

 I recently watched a video at History Colorado that featured lithophones found in the Great Sand Dunes National Monument.  Archeologist Marilyn A. Martorano displayed a collection of these cigar shaped stones. Lithophones from Great Sand Dunes NM  For the demonstration they were suspended on top of a rope ala marimba bars and struck with hard rubber mallets. They could also be suspended vertically from a string or hand at their vibrating node (about 28% of the length) producing a ringing sound.  I have heard of 'Kiva Stones' that have been found in ancient Kivas that were presumably used for ceremonial purposes. In The Cave of The Winds here in Colorado Springs the guides tap on some of the stalactites to show visitors the sounds that some of them make. Although there doesn't seem to be any evidence that people ever used them for this purpose. On a hike near Bandelier NM I came across a large flat rock that resonated when I stepped on it. I spent an hour playing on ...

I wrote about rattles in an earlier post. There are many examples in museum collections of rattles made from various material, so their existence is evident. Foot Drums however, are a subject of some controversy. Some archaeologists propose that the rectangular pits in the 'great kivas' were covered with wooden platforms and the people would dance(?) on them. I used the (?) because 'dance' implies an art form or a secular celebration. I'm using it as merely the rhythmic movement of the feet. Also there are arguments that their use was for other purposes such storage bins, germinating beds for seedlings and who knows what else. A possible foot drum in Chetro Ketl    In the Bandelier NM backcountry is the 'Painted Cave', a natural amphitheater formed by volcanic tuff. This material is soft enough that one could dig into it with finger nails although the people who lived here most likely used stone tools for the task. The entire area is littered with small cave...

The Zenith Sun  A common characteristic in Mesoamerica is the observance of the sun's zenith passage. This happens when the sun passes directly overhead at noon. It appears twice a year around late April and mid-August. Many ancient sites from Mexico east to the Yucatan seem to have systems built into their architecture to show this phenomenon. In the Mayan city of Kabah there is a cylindrical stone marker placed vertically in a plaza that seems to act as a gnomon that will produce a shadow every day except during the time of the sun's zenith position when the shadow disappears. In Monte Alban, Oaxaca and Xochicalco, Mexico the devices are more sophisticated. These have Zenith tubes in buildings that direct the rays of the sun down their passages to produce a circle of light onto the floor of a darkened chamber.  Looking up through the zenith tube Sun light on the floor of Xochicalco zenith tube. The Mixtec A-O glyph The Mixtec A-O glyph was their symbol for 'year'. The...

 All parts of Bandelier are beautiful. Some are rather dangerous. The FS built a wooden ladder so you can visit 'Ceremonial Cave'. It's all in the camera angle. I was only 4 feet off the ground (I hate heights). This area was highly populated at one time. Every small rise on the mesas had a small house block of 1 or 2 rooms. Others were massive areas.    One canyon bottom has a stream that flowed year round which is a rarity in this country. Over the years we have been able to share this place with a number of friends.

 One of our very special places is Bandelier National Monument. We backpacked here for the first time in 1974 and returned nearly every year into the late 80's. As I mentioned before, we celebrated our 50th anniversary with a trip to the area in 2019. We also celebrated our 24th one there during one of our backpacking trips. We were joined by another couple during this 7 day trip. I had packed a small bottle of champagne, a checkered table cloth, and a candle (which was not lit because of fire danger).  The guest list included our friends and one passerby. One of the places we visited in the back country was called 'Shrine of the Stone Lions'. Two large boulders in the shape of mountain lions lying together front paws outstretched. A 20 foot circle of upright boulders surrounding them. We had visited this shrine many times on our trips and each time there were always many religious offerings: antlers, feathers, personal items. After so many hundreds of years it was nice to ...

 I have always enjoyed maps and orienteering, particularly when backpacking and especially when going off trail. Since so many of our trips involved exploring prehistoric Native American sites and photographing petroglyphs, reading and using a map and compass gave us the freedom to see so much more than just staying on a given trail. Some of the National Parks require staying on designated trails for personal safety and/or protecting the environment, but many other places have fewer restrictions. When GPS became available I purchased a Garmin handheld device to record my trips and record specific sites (petroglyph panels, rock shelters). This was a tremendous advantage since I was able to locate these sites on a topo map for future visits. With Garmin's system I found that I was always having to purchase software whenever I had to upgrade computers (Windows Vista, Windows 10) or use my Mac. Recently I found an app that I could use on my phone that would sync to any of my computers....

Recently there was a news article concerning a protest march in New Mexico in which some of the marchers tried to topple a statue of Juan de Onate. He was a Conquistador who in 1599 ordered a massacre of the Acoma Pueblo killing hundreds of the residents and sentencing the remaining men and women to 20 yrs. of servitude. As an added act of inhumanity he ordered that each man would have a foot cut off. This caused much anger and hatred to the Native American population and eventually to the Spanish Crown. As I watched the scene on TV, I was reminded of another act of anger towards this man that happened as much as 200-400 years ago. While in New Mexico last year, my wife and I toured the Mesa Prieta petroglyph site. One particular petroglyph was an outline of a man with a cross on his shoulder and his right leg mutilated. The tour guide referenced the story of Juan de Onate and took us to this image.  This seems to be a more historically correct tribute to this man than the statue...

CMT or Culturally Modified Trees. I posted some pics of these trees from various places in Colorado in January. However, according to the Ute Tribal Nation (composed of many smaller bands) the only culturally modified trees are certain pine trees that have been stripped of portions of their bark. Sometimes for food, medicine or spiritual purposes.  I found this information on the Colorado Archaeology website which included a number of letters from some of the Nation's Tribal elders. If you do a search for CMTs you will find quite a few articles and even some videos about them. Since I have no expertise on the subject other than walking and photographing things, I will honor the statements from these Elders. So, what did I find? These trees showed some obvious manipulation but according to the BLM, NFS, and many archaeologists they may have been caused by natural occurrences. Although the Utes were the dominant tribe in this area, there were also Cheyenne and Arapaho.  Until I ...

In 2014 I was fortunate to have toured Mexico City and it's environs. This was an archaeological tour conducted by the Archaeological Conservancy. I had read about the Teponaztli (log drum) and Huehuetl (single headed drum) for years because of my interest in ancient Mesoamerica. These drums were prominent in the Aztec Culture but also in the earlier cultures of Central America. In the Museum of Anthropology there were quite a few of these instruments along with of course the famous Aztec Calendar (most likely from Teotihuacan) and artifacts from the Maya, Olmec, Mixtec, Zapotec, etc. The Teponaztli was made by hollowing out a log and cutting out an 'H' pattern on the top creating two wooden tongues that would vibrate when struck  with wooden mallets tipped with rubber. The outside of these drums were always beautifully carved sometimes in the shape of animals. The Huehuetl was a tall vertical drum also made from a log with an animal hide stretched across the top. The...

In the Spring of 2013 I came across a petroglyph while hiking in one of our city parks. It consisted of 2 horizontal lines with a semi circle above and lines extending from this semi circle. It looked old, old enough that lichen had grown in some of the grooves. I have seen many Native American Petroglyphs but nothing like this before. I don't even know if it's Native American. It doesn't leave much to the imagination that one is looking at a drawing of the Sun on the horizon. I took a series of pictures and downloaded them at home and studied them for weeks. Since the glyph is on a boulder facing south it couldn't line up with a Sunrise or Sunset. I realized that when I was taking the pictures, my back was against the high point of the rock outcropping. This outcropping rose 10 or 15 feet above the level of the petroglyph. Was it possible that the Sun would cast a shadow from the high point of the rock onto the glyph? It wasn't until late Fall of 2013 th...

The Pikes Peak region has a number of culturally modified trees. These are trees that were intentionally bent when they were young saplings by different groups of Native Americans. To Pikes Peak→? An Open Space Park on the south side of Colorado Springs has one of these. There are signs on the trail pointing to the 'Holy Tree'. This one is said to point to Pikes Peak itself. The day that I took this picture I didn't have my compass so I can't confirm that statement. There are a number of local people who track down these trees and catalog them for preservation. I understand that there are quite a number of these trees located up the pass near Cripple Creek and also some near the Air Force Academy. I found one on a hike in Rocky Mountain National Park and also two others in a County Park closer to my home. I have done very little reading on this subject but I do find it fascinating. The first tree is in a park and well known, however, since the second tree I ...