a Geographer's Place

Dixie in her natural habitat: outdoors. Here in Southern Utah, 1993 When I was a little kid, Dixie (my mom) was into Native American (Indian) things. Actually, she was always interested in them. And because she was, and we spent a lot of time together, I became interested in Indian things too. We spent time discussing ancient native cultures, her (some would say wild) theories about them, and the more spiritual/mystical aspects often tied to the rich cultural heritage. She also liked “glyphs”, as she called them, and I soon became aware that these glyphs – rock art – were found in almost every culture around the world. Fast forward to my PhD work where, by luck really, I ended up studying rock art (though not in the traditional archeological sense) – and in the Desert Southwest US, no less. I learned there are four main types of rock art: petroglyphs (those carved or pecked into the rock), pictographs (paintings on rocks), intaglios (scraping away of a surface to reveal ligh...

After two full days in Petra (and some sore legs from all the hiking), we headed to Wadi Rum after a leisurely breakfast. One of the few UNESCO natural and cultural sites, Wadi Rum represents an outstanding example of melding both: there are flora, fauna, and amazing geomorphology, coupled with not just historic Bedouin people and tribes, but also rock art (mainly petroglyphs) that span from Neolithic to contemporary times. Between Petra and Aqaba, and a short drive from the Desert Highway, Wadi Rum puts you smack in the middle of a place so foreign, that it has been used as the setting for the planet Mars in several movies ( The Martian , starring Matt Damon et al. was filmed here, as was Red Planet , starring Val Kilmer, et al., Lawrence of Arabia , and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen are among the list). It’s not difficult to imagine being on the red planet when you’re in Wadi Rum. At first glance, Wadi Rum might seem familiar, especially for those who have visited the US...