Pic for Mimbresman

[xcaliber]

I was out on a trail run (yes, RUN) last week in the City of Rocks State Park and glanced at a large rock to my left. In a small depression on the boulder, someone left this, about 700 or 800 years ago......

[mimbresman]

Cool...but I am curious. I might forward that to a USFS (Gila Nat. Forest) archeologist friend of mine and see what he thinks. I am a bit skeptical. The art doesn't look very Mimbres-like. It could be authentic, but it could be recent.

BTW: Did you do any riding in the Gila while you were down in that part of NM?

[xcaliber]

I thought it was a little cartoonish myself, but I am no expert on Mimbres design. I talked to one of the rangers at the park and he knew of it and showed me some Mimbres ceramics found about 2 miles from the park. It could very well be fake, but it was pretty cool to find.
I got to ride at Walnut Creek and a little on the Continental Divide Trail. Pinos Altos was covered in snow and ice. I'll get there this summer.

[mimbresman]

I got to ride at Walnut Creek and a little on the Continental Divide Trail. Pinos Altos was covered in snow and ice. I'll get there this summer.

That area around Gomez Peak and Little Walnut picnic grounds and the CD trail is fun. Sounds like you went north on the CD trail. If you go south, can make a nice loop back to town via the "Cheating Death" trail (used to be called "Hill of Death" but the USFS re-routed it around the hill). This was my last ride last summer before packing the bike (pretty dry still...before the summer monsoon). It was always one of my favorite after work rides.

[rockyrider]

The art doesn't look very Mimbres-like. It could be authentic, but it could be recent. It looks a bit like a clarinet player. Artie Shaw? Woody Allen? Benny Goodman?

[myron]

Errrrrrrrrrr ummmmmmmm

[mimbresman]

It looks a bit like a clarinet player. Artie Shaw? Woody Allen? Benny Goodman?

The mythical Kokopelli, the hunchbacked flute player. He's everywhere. That is why I am suspect. He's almost a cliche'. He is a fertility figure of sorts.

The authentic Mimbres depiction (on display on several bowls at museums around the country including the WNMU museum) is a little more interesting. The most interesting is his flute is actually his "pipe". Couldn't find that image, but here's another where he's holding his flute in one hand and a cane in the other.

[rockyrider]

The mythical Kokopelli, the hunchbacked flute player. He's everywhere. That is why I am suspect. He's almost a cliche'. He is a fertility figure of sorts. So it is Woody Allen!