National Monument
May 22nd, 2008
Most of the petroglyphs were made by pecking. An early method of pecking may have been accomplished by striking the basalt boulder directly with a hammerstone removing the dark, desert varnish on the boulder's surface.
Later, a more controlled execution was developed by using two stones, in much the way a chisel is used, to peck boulders. This "hammer and chisel" method gave petroglyph makers the ability to peck images with detail.
This is why if you know you're going to be there after 5 PM and the sign says the gates lock at 5 PM, you should probably park outside of the gates.
(Luckily for the guy they had a bolt cutter.)
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