![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Hiking La Dormida & Piedra Pintada
Dec. 26th, 2024 04:48 pmPanama Travelog #14
El Valle, Panama - Tue, 24 Dec 2024. 1pm.
Only a few minutes after beginning the trail to La India Dormida we're stopping. ...No, not stopping entirely; just stopping for a few views!
Along the trail to La Dormida are a few native petroglyphs. They're called piedra pintada, or painted rocks (also a common American-English name for petroglyphs). The big rock you see in the photo above has petroglyphs carved near its base. No, there were no acrobatic graffiti artists in antiquity here to carve things implausibly high up the rock face, just people scratching shit into the rock[*} at arm's reach.
Modern scholars are not sure what these carvings represent. They don't have the structure of a written language, nor do they have the structure of petroglyphs. Academics' best guess is that it's some kind of a map of the valley. 🤷 There you go— prehistoric land use planning!
Just beyond the painted rock there's a small waterfalls on the stream we're following up the side of the ridge.
That sure looks like a nice swimming hole beneath these falls. Guess what, though.... Not only did I forget my fancy camera back at the hotel for today's trip (still using my iPhone instead, as I mentioned on an earlier hike) , I forgot my swimming suits back at home. 😵
Now it's time to get back to hiking. There's only about 99% of the trail left to go!
_____
[*] If this was the US I'd get to give you an earful about The Antiquities Act of 1906. Be glad it isn't... unless you're into that sort of thing. 🤣
El Valle, Panama - Tue, 24 Dec 2024. 1pm.
Only a few minutes after beginning the trail to La India Dormida we're stopping. ...No, not stopping entirely; just stopping for a few views!
Along the trail to La Dormida are a few native petroglyphs. They're called piedra pintada, or painted rocks (also a common American-English name for petroglyphs). The big rock you see in the photo above has petroglyphs carved near its base. No, there were no acrobatic graffiti artists in antiquity here to carve things implausibly high up the rock face, just people scratching shit into the rock[*} at arm's reach.
Modern scholars are not sure what these carvings represent. They don't have the structure of a written language, nor do they have the structure of petroglyphs. Academics' best guess is that it's some kind of a map of the valley. 🤷 There you go— prehistoric land use planning!
Just beyond the painted rock there's a small waterfalls on the stream we're following up the side of the ridge.
That sure looks like a nice swimming hole beneath these falls. Guess what, though.... Not only did I forget my fancy camera back at the hotel for today's trip (still using my iPhone instead, as I mentioned on an earlier hike) , I forgot my swimming suits back at home. 😵
Now it's time to get back to hiking. There's only about 99% of the trail left to go!
_____
[*] If this was the US I'd get to give you an earful about The Antiquities Act of 1906. Be glad it isn't... unless you're into that sort of thing. 🤣
