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Image 5
Petroglyphs and Pictographs: Wyoming's Original
Artwork
Number Five: “Skeleton Person” – Hot
Springs County
 This
petroglyph is found on a flat rock beneath a small overhang where
it stares out at passerby. The figure is executed with finer lines
than some other Dinwoody Tradition petroglyphs. The small, attached
figure is frequently associated with Dinwoody petroglyphs representing
human forms. Archaeologists think it might be one of the ‘Little
People’s “go-between,” who often lead supplicants
into caves and crevices where they would encounter the supernatural
forces.
The plant held in the hand of the smaller figure is duplicated
in the “Split Boy” image at a nearby location (Number
One). The repetition of this plant image suggests it was important
medicine; it may be the “deadly doyatowura” discussed
by Shoshone medicine men. This plant was known as a powerful drug
that could be used to do such things as control game, alter the
thinking of the opposite sex, or make men invincible in war.
The skeleton person’s role in Shoshone lore is not understood.
In general these characters may be related to the ‘rocky
skin ghosts’ that wandered in open areas and sometimes appeared
in skeleton form. Note the designation of the heart within the
skeleton.
Reproduction of a tracing completed by Linda Olson. Research
sponsored by the Bureau of Land Management – Worland.
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