The rock paintings of the Lower Pecos region of west Texas and northern Mexico comprise some of the most spectacular and complex rock art in North America, if not the world. The distinctive, mural-sized, polychrome paintings are incredibly detailed. They exhibit multiple episodes of overpainting, and they have long been recognized for their otherworldly qualities. Several have been dated by AMS to portions of the Texas Middle and Late Archaic periods (4000-1500 BP).

In Pecos River Style Rock Art, an outgrowth of his master's thesis research in anthropology at Texas A&M University, Macrae takes a formal approach to the analysis of 43 Lower Pecos–style rock art sites. He outlines an iconography of religious and spiritual core motifs (scenes or compositions) and enigmatic characters within individual murals to argue that these represent a series of canonical narratives of an ancient Lower Pecos spiritual belief system. He proposes that this iconography and its underlying belief system developed as a crisis response to increasing aridity and nucleation of human populations in the canyons of the Lower Pecos. Macrae furthermore suggests that the emergence of this iconography reflects the development of a nonegalitarian political system for the indigenous hunter-fisher-gatherers of the Lower Pecos.

This beautifully illustrated volume is filled with color photographs and detailed drawings. It is organized into five chapters. Chapter 1 provides a brief overview of the Lower Pecos region and its culture history. Chapter 2 outlines the general theoretical perspective. Macrae differentiates his “structural iconographic” approach somewhat from classic anthropological structural analysis, and he utilizes Linda Schele's methods to identify specific symbols and patterns of associated symbols. These reflect a syntax or grammar-like structure to give meaning to scenes. He also considers the Lower Pecos style to be religious, ceremonial, spiritual, and mythological in character rather than solely shamanic. Chapter 3 presents Macrae's basic analytical units, including the typical anthropomorphic and zoomorphic categories used by rock art researchers, along with items of material culture (often weaponry), geometric designs, and enigmatic characters. These iconographic elements are then organized into 19 core motifs or thematic compositions. Chapter 4 presents the resulting typology and outlines a richly illustrated catalog of the core motifs, more detailed attributes, and enigmatic characters with accompanying references to earlier research and identification, along with interpretations of general meanings. Many of the enigmatic characters—for example, the mountain lion, centipede, and gar—are interpreted as supernatural beings with associations to diverse supernatural realms, and they often reflect the “shamanic” aspects of transformations of the human spiritual leaders into these beings. Chapter 5 provides a general discussion and conclusions. Among the important observations made by Macrae are the metaphorical relationships between natural features of the rock and human beings, the conveyance of social power through access to supernatural power, the expression of religious concepts by the core motifs, and the role of the murals as “public art” to express differential supernatural and political power in a nonegalitarian social structure.

This volume condenses extremely complex concepts, data, and inferences in a readable manner, and it will appeal to a general audience. Many rock art researchers may also wish to learn more about Macrae's analytical techniques. Pecos River Style Rock Art makes an important point for those of us involved in heritage management and the consulting industries: hunter-gatherer rock art reflects aspects of religious and spiritual beliefs of ancient Americans, holds special religious significance for Native peoples, and should be treated and preserved as cultural patrimony. Macrae also quietly establishes the importance of integrating of rock art research with “dirt” archaeology and the potential to enrich and enhance what we think we know about the ancient history of North America.

I am by no means an expert on the prehistory of the Rio Grande Valley, and I was filled with questions while reading this book. For example, is utilization of the rock shelters—as evidenced by the presence of burned rock middens—older, contemporaneous with, or younger than the paintings, or all of the above? How were uplands utilized? Did Lower Pecos rock art appear “full blown” as complex paintings about 4,000 years ago? Is there temporal patterning to the core motifs? Why did ancient Americans stop painting these magnificent murals? Are there more recent paleoclimatic studies of the region? What is the significance of these rock art sites to modern Native American communities?

Macrae's study is largely synchronic, and a consideration of change over the 2,500-year duration of the Pecos River style, along with more detailed considerations of archaeological and ethnographic data, could provide some very exciting insights into the ancient history of this region.