Arborglyphs

Aspen tree carvings—or arborglyphs—are often common in the places where I work.  When a carving is especially interesting, I may stop to look and make a picture.  This week, for example, in Colorado's Park Range, I came across four carvings of naked women.  Two of them were by the same carver, and were so good that I had to photograph them.  (Now, Rural Ways is a family friendly blog, and by "good" I mean fluidly carved and realistic.  The image above has been edited for publication.)  I mentioned these to one of my colleagues, and he said that they are sheepherder carvings that have been recognized as an art form and cultural resource.  I googled it and found a fair amount of information about the carvings of Basque sheepherders in Nevada and California.  In Colorado, however, the sheep camps have traditionally been inhabited by Mexicans, and, if the final carving I found is a self-portrait, by South Americans.