The Integrity of Place-Based Messaging
Contrasted With the Email of Our Day
This simple post shows the literal place-based messaging provided by petroglyphs along the La Cineguilla Loop trail close to the Santa Fe Regional Airport. Perhaps surprisingly, little information is provided about the meaning of the rock art figures created by ancestors of residents of Cochiti and Santo Domingo pueblos.
Bird figures predominate, complemented by other representations of human, animal, and spiritual activities on adjacent land. The most credible sources suggest they are between 400 and 800 years old—and were located very close to the historic route from Mexico City to Santa Fe established by Spanish settlers.
Even the straightforward hike at La Cineguilla requires some navigation in the form of an uphill scramble to locate the most visible images. Access is limited to those who can make the short climb and do not mind a vaguely defined trail. Public art gracing a square or a roadside monument may fulfill a similar purpose for those with a more casual interest in how place-based messaging occurs.
A Footnote
Finally, a footnote for Elon. Per your email:
I visited a place that helped me understand ways of communicating in a different form than your emails.
I wrote about this place.
I photographed this place.
I found ancient ways of communicating more interesting than email.
I was happily distracted from today’s news cycle.