JOIN TODAY
JOIN TODAY

Dating North America's Oldest Petroglyphs

News August 14, 2013

(University of Colorado)
SHARE:

iPetroglyph-Winnemucca
(University of Colorado)
WINNEMUCCA LAKE, NEVADA—Archaeologists have discovered a series of abstract petroglyphs in western Nevada are at least 10,500 years old and could possibly date to 14,800 years ago, making them the oldest known petroglyphs in North America. The team, led by University of Colorado Museum of Natural History archaeologist Larry Benson, radiocarbon dated layers of carbonate underneath the petroglyphs, which ancient Native Americans incised into limestone boulders near the now-dry Winnemucca Lake. "Whether they turn out to be as old as 14,800 years ago or as recent as 10,500 years ago, they are still the oldest petroglyphs that have been dated in North America," says Benson. But knowing the approximate dates still doesn't give archaeologists insight into what the symbols represent. "We have no idea what they mean," says Benson.   

Recommended Articles

Off the Grid November/December 2026

San Agustín, Colombia

Read Article
Statue of hybrid human-reptile figure, San Agustin Archaeological Park, Colombia
Bruno/AdobeStock

Letter from Cape Canaveral November/December 2026

Dawn of the Space Age

Archaeologists have made surprising discoveries spanning 3,000 years at the birthplace of American space exploration

Read Article
The first rocket launched from Cape Canaveral, on Florida's Atlantic Coast—called the Bumper—took flight on July 24, 1950.
Courtesy Cape Canaveral Space Force Museum

Features November/December 2026

Kingdom of Fortresses

How diverse and far-flung Iron Age chiefdoms united to challenge the Assyrian Empire

Read Article
© Tolga İldun

Features November/December 2026

A Tomb of One's Own

Life behind the scenes in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings

Read Article
Painted scene from Ipuy's chapel depicting men catching fish from a boat
© Matjaz Kacicnik/Project TT 217–The Tomb of the Sculptor Ipuy in Context (JGU Mainz, IFAO Cairo)

More to Discover

Features July/August 2013

Lost Tombs

In search of history's greatest rulers

Read Article
(bpk, Berlin/ Aegyptisches Museum, Staatliche Museen, Berlin, Germany / Art Resource, NY)

  • Features July/August 2013

    The First Vikings

    Two remarkable ships may show that the Viking storm was brewing long before their assault on England and the continent

    Read Article
    Courtesy Liina Maldre, University of Tallinn

  • Features July/August 2013

    Miniature Pyramids of Sudan

    Archaeologists excavating on the banks of the Nile have uncovered a necropolis where hundreds of small pyramids once stood

    Read Article
    Aerial view of excavation of pyramids, Sedeinga, Sudan
    (Courtesy B-N Chagny, SEDAU/SFDAS)

  • Letter from China July/August 2013

    Tomb Raider Chronicles

    Looting reaches across the centuries—and modern China’s economic strata

    Read Article
    (Courtesy Lauren Hilgers, Photo: Anonymous)

  • Artifacts July/August 2013

    Ancient Egyptian Sundial

    A 13th-century limestone sundial is one of the earliest timekeeping devices discovered in Egypt

    Read Article
    (© The Trustees of the British Museum/Art Resource, NY)