Located on the Mesa Verde Plateau on the Colorado-Utah border, Castle Rock Pueblo is known for its settlements and petroglyphs carved into the canyon walls by Pueblo ancestors between 1250 and 1274.

This region is known for its advanced pre-Columbian culture. The settlement prospered in the construction of multi-storey stone houses reminiscent of medieval townhouses.

House ruins in the settlement

The group was also famous for their intricate rock paintings, jewelry and ceramics decorated with motifs painted with black pigment on a white background, according to Radoslaw Palonka, an archeology professor at the Jagiellonian University in Poland who led the research.

rock paintings found

During the expedition, archaeologists came across petroglyphs (rock drawings) in the rock stretching 4 kilometers above the settlements. The rock drawings, including spirals exceeding 1 meter in diameter, exceeded all the researchers’ expectations.

I thought we had thoroughly examined the area and carried out extensive excavations, geophysical surveys and digitization. But I got some hints from older members of the local community that they might be more abundant in the higher, less accessible parts of the canyons. We wanted to check this information out, and what we found exceeded our wildest expectations.
– noted Palonka

Possible calendar found by archaeologists / Photo JAGIELLONIAN UNIVERSITY

Experts believe these petroglyphs served as a calendar for Pueblo ancestors, which they used primarily for astronomical observations and marked special days such as the summer and winter solstices and spring and autumn equinoxes. Although there is still a lot of study and research, it is worth noting that thanks to this discovery, archaeologists will be able to better understand the mastery of the cultural and scientific practices of the Castle Rock Pueblo.