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Radiocarbon Dates on the All American Man Pictograph

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Scott D. Chaffee
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3255
Marian Hyman
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3255
Marvin W. Rowe
Affiliation:
Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3255
Nancy J. Coulam
Affiliation:
Canyonlands National Park, Moab, UT 84532-2995
Alan Schroedl
Affiliation:
P-III Associates, Inc., Salt Lake City, UT 84115
Kathleen Hogue
Affiliation:
Arches National Park, Moab, UT 84532-2995

Abstract

Controversy has surrounded the All American Man pictograph in southeast Utah since its discovery in the 1950s. Its coloration, similar to the flag of the United States of America, has led to questions regarding its authenticity. We have obtained two radiocarbon values on a single sample comprised of pigmented sandstone fragments from one small area of this pictograph. They suggest the pictograph dates to the fourteenth century and indicate that it is an authentic, prehistoric pictograph, probably Anasazi in origin.

Resumen

Resumen

La pictografía “El Hombre todo Americano” (the All American Man), localizada en el sureste de Utah, Estados Unidos, ha estado rodeada de controversia desde su descubrimiento en los años cinquenta. Su coloración, semejante a la de la bandera estadunidense, ha sembrado dudas sobre su autentitidad. Nosotros hemos obtenido dos fechados radiocarbónicos en una sola muestra que consta de fragmentos pigmentados de piedra arenisca, tomada de una pequeña área de esta pictografía. Estos fechados sugieren que la pictografía data del sigh XIV, e indican que es una pictografía auténtica y prehistórica, probablemente de origen anasazi.

Type
Reports
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1994

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