Three Stalwarts on Mesa Prieta

    First question,  what do you call a rock art recording team consisting of a dentist, a journalist and a professor?  A "well written, and researched drill team"?  No.  How about "The Three Horsemen of the Mesa"?  Now quite.  So, how about the "Three Tough Seniors Having Fun on the Mesa!"  Sounds good to me!  
       Of course, I speak of the long-standing 3-man recording team with a combined time of  33 years

Above: K Paul Jones, Bill Cella, Paul Krispinsky

volunteering as recorders for the Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Project.  Average age 82 and still going strong.  The team consists of Bill Cella, K Paul Jones and Paul Krispinsky.  Apparently they don't have any qualms about trudging up the steep and unsteady sides of Mesa Prieta for the purpose of making a scientific recording of any and all petroglyphs in sight.  They just keep coming back. 
      It was my privilege to accompany this venerable team out one day recently.   Despite grumblings about the cold temperatures and a knife-like wind, this team tackled the steep slope of the mesa and immediately spotted some petroglyphs.  Each member had his assigned task(s) and went right to work on a panel with etchings on two sides (or loci) of a basalt boulder.  One member took measurements of the actual glyphs, checked the  facing and worked the well-used hand-held GPS unit, jotting all the vital info onto a Mapper's Notes sheet. Another member took care to photograph carefully the the boulder itself, the surrounding area,  and details of the elements found on that boulder, often having to trim interfering grass clumps, tree branches and making sure that the photo board and arrow were property located.  The Principal Recorder took pains to record not only all the data supplied by the Mapper, but also added an accurate drawing on the recording sheet and a list of elements (with appropriate category numbers/letters) found on the boulder.  The end product reflected an accurate rendition of the panel and an agreement of what was observed on each panel. If there were any uncertainties concerning specific elements or the data recorded, a democratic debate took place and the final decision was based on a consensus.  This was teamwork at its best.
      This process continued for the next 6 hours only interrupted by a short lunch break.  The sun helped to warm up stiff fingers and spirits rose with the heat radiating from the black boulders.   Over time the team was able to produce 14 more full rock art recordings, a good day's work.
      Curious why these gentlemen spent their time once a month on the Mesa, I heard the unanimous view that the beauty of the nature surrounding them and the dramatic views were a big factor.  Another motivator was the desire to leave a record of the archaeology of ancient cultures which is slowly disappearing.  One recorder added that he felt a strong attraction to the artistic designs created centuries ago, and the mystery still surrounding the meaning of those designs.  Each person has his own reason for being there but all were feeling the positive effects of doing the often arduous work.
      After all the gear had been returned to the team pack, one last task remained:  Setting a date for the next recording session.  Clearly, this provided a positive sense of anticipation of further rock art discoveries and recordings. The records created by this and the other recording teams working with the Mesa Prieta Project will assist the preservation of the history of prior generations of Native Americans and also help future archaeologists in their research on Mesa Prieta.
 
John L. Pitts
MP3 volunteer, 20+ years