Last updated: October 4, 2019
Place
Great Hunt Panel Site
Photograph by Jerry Spangler and Joel Boomgarden, courtesy of Utah State Historic Preservation Offic
Quick Facts
Location:
Nine Mile Canyon Rd., Price, Utah
Significance:
ARCHITECTURE/ENGINEERING, EVENT, INFORMATION POTENTIAL, ARCHEOLOGY
Designation:
Listed in the National Register - Reference number 100001978
The Great Hunt Panel Site is located in Nine Mile Canyon, Utah, approximately 45 miles north and east of Wellington, Utah at the mouth of Cottonwood Canyon. The property consists of five prehistoric rock art panels, the fixture being the world-famous Great Hunt Panel. Artistic motifs range from the Archaic through the Fremont-period, thus the period of significance is 8000 BP to 700 BP. Early archaeological explorer, Albert Reagan first described and excavated the site in 1931, and it has been redocumented by Sargent in 1976 and Spangler in 2007.
The Great Hunt Panel Site is a nationally significant representation of prehistoric rock art. One of the five panels, the Great Hunt Panel, has been used in publications across the globe and is a nationally-recognizable prehistoric artistic expression of prehistoric life. The site displays religious behavior and hunting behavior. The Great Hunt Panel is an elaborate composition that includes at least 30 bighorn sheep and eight anthropomorphs configured in a pattern that has been interpreted as a communal hunt.
The group of panels display prehistoric life in a way that artifacts alone cannot describe, giving the viewer (both archaeologist and lay person alike) a glimpse into the personal past. The panels range in age over several thousand years, highlighting the changes in artistic style and thought, further helping our understanding of past peoples and their use of the environment. For instance, the depictions of bison in Nine Mile Canyon is significant to assist in our understanding of the distribution of this species, but also those who hunted it during past periods.
Great Hunt Panel has been and continues to be a major attraction to recreational visitors to Nine Mile Canyon. Even though visitation to this site is significant, impacts to the Great Hunt panel (Panel 3) appear to be minimal, consisting of natural erosion and road dust accumulation.
The Great Hunt Panel Site is a nationally significant representation of prehistoric rock art. One of the five panels, the Great Hunt Panel, has been used in publications across the globe and is a nationally-recognizable prehistoric artistic expression of prehistoric life. The site displays religious behavior and hunting behavior. The Great Hunt Panel is an elaborate composition that includes at least 30 bighorn sheep and eight anthropomorphs configured in a pattern that has been interpreted as a communal hunt.
The group of panels display prehistoric life in a way that artifacts alone cannot describe, giving the viewer (both archaeologist and lay person alike) a glimpse into the personal past. The panels range in age over several thousand years, highlighting the changes in artistic style and thought, further helping our understanding of past peoples and their use of the environment. For instance, the depictions of bison in Nine Mile Canyon is significant to assist in our understanding of the distribution of this species, but also those who hunted it during past periods.
Great Hunt Panel has been and continues to be a major attraction to recreational visitors to Nine Mile Canyon. Even though visitation to this site is significant, impacts to the Great Hunt panel (Panel 3) appear to be minimal, consisting of natural erosion and road dust accumulation.