Shipley, Samantha (Weber State University)
Faculty Advisor: Stevenson, Dr. Mark (Social & Behavioral Sciences, Sociology & Anthropology); Arkush, Dr. Brooke (Social & Behavioral Sciences, Sociology & Anthropology); Yoder, Dr. David (Social & Behavioral Sciences, Sociology & Anthropology)
This study evaluates the ways that gender and women's roles are interpreted in Utah rock art. Over 750 rock art images in the following six counties in Utah were evaluated: Box Elder (47 images), Carbon (488 images), Juab (16 images), Millard (100 images), Tooele (33 images), and Utah (73 images). Along with a review of relevant literature, the study drew on rock art site forms to review any indication of sex/gender attributes. Though some rock art can be more easily interpreted, most is open to interpretation and requires extensive knowledge on the culture and ethnographic analysis. There were not many panels that displayed gender attributes. However, we cannot be sure that anthropomorphic figures did not represent both males and females. Though some rock art motifs can be more easily interpreted, most require extensive knowledge on the culture and ethnographic analysis to reach a probable conclusion. Identifying sex and gender within rock art motifs can be difficult without understanding the cultural construction as we oftentimes have biases and cultural assumptions of our own. Understanding social roles in native Utahn populations is beneficial for furthering anthropological research in the area.