Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Project

10/22/2026

Thank you for all the support NM Outdoor Recreation Division! These funds help us do wonderful things!

With support from the Outdoor Equity Fund and Trails+ Grant, Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Project is creating opportunities for youth to learn archeology and conservation skills, traditional knowledge, and deepen their connection to the northern Rio Grande valley.

Read the full story at bit.ly/nmsuccess

MESA Prieta Petroglyph Project

10/21/2026

There is absolutely no way Mesa Prieta could do what it does without the dedication of our volunteers! This Sunday we gathered on the Wells Petroglyph Preserve for our annual volunteer appreciation picnic to honor the time and sweat each of them gives to protecting this place. Thank you, all of you, for what you do!

Want to be part of it? Join our volunteer team and become a petroglyph recorder or tour docent. Learn more at https://www.mesaprietapetroglyphs.org/volunteer-with-mppp.html

Image credit: Norman Doggett

10/16/2026

The recent rains in northern New Mexico were intense, and at the Wells Petroglyph Preserve on Mesa Prieta, erosion brought down a few boulders. A couple with petroglyphs on them.

We're heartbroken. When a petroglyph boulder falls, we lose the context: exactly where it sat on the landscape and its relationship to the place around it.

Because of our previous documentation work at this spot, not all of that context is gone. These boulders were recorded. But we could have done better, and with your help, we can.

Earlier this summer, with support from the NM Outdoor Recreation Division Trails Plus grant, the Summer Youth Intern Program, and New Mexico Volunteers for the Outdoors ,we started erosion control in some spots on the preserve, and it is holding. Grasses are growing where we reseeded, and the soil is staying put. There is much more to do before the next big rainy season.

Water has always shaped this landscape, and it always will. But heavy downpours in the Southwest are becoming more intense, and the ground here needs help handling them. Your support lets us keep working with the land through preservation, documentation, and education. Please donate to the Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Project today.

https://www.mesaprietapetroglyphs.org/ways-to-donate.html

10/12/2026

Indigenous Peoples' Day is a reminder that this landscape has been home, school, and sacred space for many groups since time immemorial, and it remains so today. At MPPP, honoring that means partnership, humility, and stewardship guided by the local communities whose presence and knowledge continue to shape this place. Thank you for walking alongside us!

09/22/2026

From us at Mesa Prieta, Happy Fall Equinox! May the turning season bring you rest, harvest, and a little more time to enjoy the small things!

The image depicts an animal flute player interacting with a shadow cast by the boulder above. The shadow traces the line of the animal's back and passes just above its ears.

Photographed at solar noon on September 21, 2026.

09/22/2026

The seeds we plant today don't always show themselves in our lifetime. Sometimes they do...

This spot on the Wells Preserve has been bare for as long as most can remember. Runoff stripped it to hard soil, and nothing would take hold. Earlier this year, through the NM Outdoor Recreation Division Trails + Grant, we treated the area for erosion: slowing the water, holding the soil, seeding native grasses, giving the ground a chance to rest.

Now look at it.

Sandy Romero, who has walked this mesa for well over a decade, said it best: "I've never seen grass on this spot."

A huge thank you to the Summer Youth Interns, the New Mexico Volunteers for the Outdoors, Jeremiah Martin and his crew at Wildlands Stewardship, The Archaeological Conservancy, and the volunteers of Mesa Prieta who show up season after season.

We won't see every result of what we do here. But every so often, the land answers back.

This is what it means to "Protect a Place."

Help us continue to plant seeds for the future by donating at the link below.

https://www.mesaprietapetroglyphs.org/ways-to-donate.html

09/20/2026

Come stop by and see us at Los Luceros for the Fall Harvest Festival!

09/14/2026

Free this Wednesday? Come hear about a rock imagery tradition from along the Rio Grande, just a whole lot further south!

Our Project Archaeologist, Jerod Roberts, is giving this month's Shumla Archaeological Research & Education Center's Lunch and Learn on the Red Linear style of the Lower Pecos Canyonlands. Recent dating suggests Red Linear and the better known Pecos River style overlapped for more than a thousand years, two very different visual systems being painted in the same canyons at the same time?

Wednesday, September 16th
Noon to 1:00 PM Central, so 11:00 AM here in New Mexico.
Free, on Zoom, registration required! Click the link to sign up!

https://shumla.org/lunchandlearnsep2026/

09/01/2026

A huge thank you to everyone who joined us this Saturday at Los Luceros for "Mesa Verde Through the Backdoor" with Mesa Prieta's own Kathy Fiero!

Kathy spent 20 years as an archaeologist at Mesa Verde National Park and is the author of numerous books on the park and its preservation. She has also been one of MPPP's longtime recording volunteers.

It was wonderful hearing about the stabilization work she and her crew accomplished, and the care that goes into holding those walls together for the next generation. A rare look at Mesa Verde from a perspective most visitors never get to see.
Thank you, Kathy!

08/14/2026

Come stop by to see us at Pathways Indigenous Art Festival!