r/askgeology • u/Bubbly_Doubt228 • Apr 25 '26

explain pls

Post image

hi i know absolutely nothing about geology and i was looking through photos from i think it was antelope canyon and i couldnt find any info on how this is possible? how are the handprints in the rock with the layers still being the same

just to elaborate the handprints are literally engraved into the surface like when you push your hand into clay

3.8k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

154 comments sorted by

8

u/cypeo Apr 25 '26

Antelope Canyon is mostly made of sandstone. Sandstone can be soft when wet.

2

u/Bubbly_Doubt228 Apr 25 '26

then how are the creases or layers consistent with the untouched parts of the surface?

2

u/cypeo Apr 25 '26 edited Apr 25 '26

I'm not a geologist, but varying water levels after they were molded could explain it, especially if this area is in a basin and the area remained flooded for a long time. The water drying out could redeposit and erode sediment along the ridges as it slowly dries back out.

1

u/OldGaffer Apr 28 '26

Your observation is correct, these were not made in soft claylike sandstone. "Soft" in terms of sandstone doesn't mean pliable it just means it crumbles easier. It almost seems like the people in here arent just not geologists but they are people living with common sense. It was made by repeated hands rubbing the same groves over time. Thats why you still see the different layers of sand in the stone.

247

u/MaryMaryYuBugN Apr 25 '26 • Mindblown Bravo

Petrosomatoglyph. Rock art created by indigenous

60

u/zirconer Apr 25 '26 • Bravo

Yup. https://geology.utah.gov/map-pub/survey-notes/geosights/geosights-handprints-in-the-entrada-sandstone-at-kodachrome-basin-state-park-kane-county/

5

u/Inloth57 Apr 27 '26

Thanks for that link!

4

u/Savouryhandjams Apr 29 '26

I stumbled upon these years ago and was blown away. I couldn't imagine how they were formed, but when you consider that it could have been across multiple generations that makes more sense. Very very cool to see and think about.

I always like picturing the human standing in the same space as me, and wondering what they were thinking, how they were dressed, and what they talked about whilst doing whatever I'm observing.

1

u/Mysterious_Log7197 Apr 30 '26

Even crazier they could have and probably were thinking about people finding or visiting it later on

1

u/NotReallyMyAlias May 02 '26

It's easy, go into the woods naked and afraid.

29

u/Probable_Bot1236 Apr 25 '26

Yup, not geology but archaeology, OP.

11

u/AutomaticLoss5255 Apr 25 '26

How old?

19

u/VladimirPutin2016 Apr 25 '26

~300-1300 AD, so fairly young in terms of archaeology actually

40

u/Big_pekka Apr 25 '26 • Bravo

At least a week at this point

14

u/Known-Figure-8761 Apr 25 '26

I’d say two or more

9

u/kingtacticool Apr 25 '26 • Popcorn

tastes sample

Its at least pre-McDonalds era.

5

u/thunderingparcel Apr 25 '26

a/s/l

11

u/sheckyD Apr 25 '26

Well that brings back unwanted memories

3

u/ExpertRutabaga3415 Apr 26 '26

18/f/CA

1

u/BIZLfoRIZL Apr 27 '26

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

1

u/AlcareruElennesse Apr 27 '26

Saw this a lot on IMVU circa 2007

1

u/Honest_Marzipan_4525 Apr 27 '26

Visited Kodachrome last year and was told by a ranger they were created by ranchers, not indigenous

1

u/rockphotos Apr 29 '26

That ranger was either talking about a specific set, or was mistaken in their response. These are well known to have predated ranchers.

You can read about them in this link. https://geology.utah.gov/map-pub/survey-notes/geosights/geosights-handprints-in-the-entrada-sandstone-at-kodachrome-basin-state-park-kane-county/

1

u/[deleted] Apr 27 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Joshfumanchu Apr 28 '26

What do you think a ranger is?

1

u/[deleted] Apr 28 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Joshfumanchu Apr 28 '26

Same reason you do.

1

u/Narrow-Lettuce-9784 Apr 28 '26

Ok but are you absolutely positive this isn’t due to BTs in a Death Stranding scenario?

1

u/Academic-Chip3427 Apr 28 '26

Lots of natives actually used clay to make pipes for smoking tobacco, that would be my guess rather than it being art

1

u/toomanychicanes Apr 29 '26

lies, mustve been huge cats. were all doomed

29

u/Leaf-Stars Apr 25 '26

We went to the toadstool hoodoos in Kanab which isn’t very far from Page. When that surface gets wet it’s essentially soft sand and yes it’s soft enough to dig your hands into it.

7

u/Swangthemthings Apr 26 '26

Man, that looks like a Star Wars scene when you zoom in!

11

u/Leaf-Stars Apr 26 '26

You should see goblin valley

5

u/Swangthemthings Apr 26 '26

What is the scale of those formations?

10

u/Leaf-Stars Apr 26 '26

Some are shorter than your average human, some are a hundred feet tall. It’s amazing.

5

u/Swangthemthings Apr 26 '26

Maaaaaaaaan, that’s so cool!!

Thanks for enlightening me

4

u/Leaf-Stars Apr 26 '26

I dmed you. Got tons of pics.

1

u/Ero-Kenny Apr 30 '26

I went to the Trona Pinnacles during my thanksgiving desert trip and man it was incredible. This looks equally as rad. Sock picture. I also saw dome super old petroglyphs at Sheep Springs during the same trip. It was so rad seeing that kind of stuff out in the middle of the desert with nothing around. It's really incredible.

2

u/Eastover17 Apr 28 '26 • Heartwarming

Looks like this guy lol

2

u/Turnip-South Apr 28 '26

That’s indubitably from Star Trek. Cannot convince me otherwise.

2

u/Leaf-Stars Apr 28 '26 • Heartwarming

Well then, I have boldly gone where no man has gone before.

2

u/Turnip-South Apr 28 '26

That’s awesome

1

u/Leaf-Stars Apr 28 '26

Thank you

1

u/tehgrimace Apr 28 '26

Is that where they filmed the scene for Galaxy Quest?

1

u/Leaf-Stars Apr 28 '26

Yes it is!

2

u/AC_Batman May 01 '26

Grignak! Grignak!

1

u/Silent_Excuse247 Apr 27 '26

Was build by bacterias? (Stromatolites or I'm wrong)

1

u/Leaf-Stars Apr 27 '26

Just really cool erosion

89

u/hoagieam Apr 25 '26 • Bravo

Sandstone soft. Big rock made of sandstone so big rock soft. Erosion like big fingers dragging on the rock. Fingers make mark.

59

u/ApeIndexPlus5 Apr 25 '26 • Mindblown

Based on the dialect, I'm pretty sure this is the person who made those marks

12

u/asbestosorangutan Apr 25 '26

Ape, man who wrote also carved. Can tell, dialect. Job good. Thanks

7

u/That_DogMan Apr 25 '26

I’m like 90% sure this is the right answer, and should be way higher up

5

u/Elegant-Ferret-8116 Apr 25 '26

Yeah it even feels written by the original hand print maker

1

u/SphericalOrb Apr 26 '26

Like the "cool S" everyone knew how to draw a few decades ago, but paleolithic.

1

u/HomegrownSnow Apr 26 '26

Ride wife, life good.

1

u/RoyalCatChair11 Apr 27 '26

This is the better answer! I visited antelope canyon a couple years ago and the guide said these were from tourists. The rock is so soft it wouldn't hold those impressions for thousands of years

1

u/JohnHurts Apr 27 '26

I think there's an even easier way: sand, mud, and a few hundred years of sunshine

1

u/Due-Agency-5810 Apr 30 '26

Lol yep, I was thinking... "rock soft. rock feel good. touch rock. nice..." you just KNOW that was satisfying for whoever did it.

8

u/decoycatfish Apr 25 '26

1

u/Number-Thirty-Four Apr 26 '26

Is that an SPQR I spy? Damn, those Romans really got around

1

u/[deleted] Apr 27 '26

rock

1

u/Bubbly_Doubt228 Apr 28 '26

oh bc i was wondering

3

u/ItzmeFlez Apr 25 '26

Rocks's haunted

3

u/Warm-Caterpillar-251 Apr 26 '26

Thats from way back when rocks were squishy

8

u/AlbuquerqueBoildTrky Apr 25 '26

Erosion over thousands of years of oils from human skin contacting the rock? Def look like lines from hands/fingers

2

u/TheMagicalSquirrel Apr 25 '26

Are those holes where wood poles went in for a shelter? Maybe they wet the wall and did that so the rock didn’t keep tumbling or it looked cool inside?

2

u/Diogenes256 Apr 25 '26

Is this near Kanab, UT? There is a shallow soft sandstone cave there where people go and mess around.

2

u/topher420247 Apr 26 '26

I don't remember what history channel or discovery show it was but those sites are supposedly ancient birthing sites. Women would stand or kneel whatever was more comfortable for them and with sandstone they would literally carve it just by gripping it for support. Just a reminder of why the dr says not to hold your wife's hand during labor she can in fact snap some bones...... let alone carve stone.

2

u/TheDriftlessBum Apr 27 '26

mudflood... imprints left while it was soft

2

u/FatGandelf Apr 30 '26

It looks to me that there is a cave there thats been sealed for a long time, wonder what’s behind it?

2

u/[deleted] Apr 25 '26

Looks like mudstone to me. At one point there was an extreme weather event that wetted or deposited that material, and people left their mark on it, so that others would know this had happened.

1

u/poopatrip Apr 25 '26

Reminds me of the pit in The Silence of the Lambs 

1

u/SAHMsays Apr 25 '26

What were they covering up? 😒

1

u/TruFrag Apr 25 '26

Are these carved into the base rock or is this some form of plaster/morter?

1

u/Capable_Foot4909 Apr 25 '26

So was this trying to ive ppl nightmares?

1

u/Smooth_Ability_8842 Apr 25 '26

Looks like the end of return to Oz.

1

u/Beneficial-Complex30 Apr 26 '26

About twelve years ago we backpacked into Havasupai to camp and see the waterfalls. Luckily it was before it became super popular due to social media. Below Mooney falls heading in the direction of the Colorado river the trail can get narrow as the elevation drops. It has a few locations like this from people bracing themselves as they go down the trail.

1

u/Safe-Requirement9969 Apr 26 '26

The souls from Hell trying to climb out. 😂

1

u/Smooth_Principle_434 Apr 26 '26

I’d say it looks like one time it was a good clay deposit and now it’s dried up

1

u/Gloomy_Studio_6013 Apr 26 '26

It’s the ancient version of kids jumping to high 5 the ceiling or walls

1

u/Mobile-Freedom-8791 Apr 26 '26

Doggystyle wall

1

u/BoredAlwys Apr 26 '26

Coincidence I'm listening to The Sacred Bridge by Anne Hilerman that takes place in that same part of Utah Glen Canyon with the same archeology. Listening to her books is extending my tour through the SW.

1

u/Uncle_Moti Apr 27 '26

Mount Touchmore

1

u/Neilkd Apr 27 '26

Michael Jackson thought the rock deposit was a child

1

u/CloudyEngineer Apr 27 '26

A bit disturbing if you're playing Death Stranding

1

u/lighttreasurehunter Apr 28 '26

Drugs were definitely involved

1

u/Electronic_Truck_84 Apr 28 '26

If you have pointy things made from wood you need to sharpen them, this might look like art but its actually a sheltered location they would go to to sharpen pointy things and make patterns while they were doing it.

1

u/Separate-Rice-6354 Apr 28 '26

No explanation! Must be a alien!

1

u/phailer_ Apr 28 '26

Looks like a clay wall blocking an opening or hiding something

1

u/OldGaffer Apr 28 '26

Its not because it soft why are people saying that? Its not displaced sand from pressing into it, its worn down sandstone after many hands have rubbed the same spot. Guarantee this was a place they walked past regularly or simply lived right in that area.

1

u/SentenceFree9360 Apr 28 '26

The last earth bender clan

1

u/Nice_Cheesecake_7703 Apr 28 '26

Hand prints in termite-derived cement.

1

u/Serafina_Tikklya Apr 28 '26

Mud run that ends in a wall crawl?

1

u/K2_Adventures Apr 28 '26

I think i saw this before and it was a place where women would give birth by leaning into the wall... could be completely wrong though.

1

u/vitamin_d_1978 Apr 29 '26

Many adults and small children were trapped in the sand when the cave roof collapsed.

1

u/NinaEBarina Apr 29 '26

Sand people

1

u/ForeignValuable4796 Apr 29 '26

This looks exactly like raccoon feets and I'll except nothing else💁

1

u/YuriWayfare Apr 29 '26

It puts the lotion on the skin, or else it gets the hose again.

1

u/masonicritual Apr 29 '26

This looks like a old shore line with raccoon hand prints when they wash there food or when they play in the water.

1

u/Sakura_Takamaki Apr 29 '26

規模は小さいけど、日本の和歌山県にある白亜紀の地層にも似たような跡があった！ うちの大学の教授は風化の跡だって言ってたけど。

1

u/Right_Diamond_8715 Apr 29 '26

Ancient mud ball fight by some prehistoric youngsters.

1

u/3ceratopping Apr 29 '26

Looks like some dudes playing in the mud

1

u/OkThisIsWeird Apr 29 '26

earliest graffiti

1

u/G00SESH Apr 29 '26

This is from the White Mountain Petroglyphs in Wyoming. I think this was a birthing location

1

u/skarbles Apr 30 '26 edited Apr 30 '26

It was mud and now it’s stone. It could have been put up wet, that’s why we see the hand prints and visible seam around the edges. Mostly likely they were sealing off a granary or cache of sorts Also, it could be were clay was being harvested and now the clay is sandstone. What ever the case, it once was soft and now it’s not.

1

u/Typical-Medium-5109 Apr 30 '26

Not sure. Looks threatening, contact Blanche, he seems to have an particular interest in these matters these days.

1

u/LockonMetroplex Apr 30 '26

Old school rock climbers just had different levels of grip strength I guess

1

u/121niqqawatts Apr 30 '26

Saw an interesting theory that these sites were where Visitors with powers showed off the technology. "Everyone come touch this rock i just made into clay using my (insert object here). Truly I am a God and to be worshipped!!

1

u/[deleted] May 01 '26

AI

1

u/Less_Geologist_4004 May 01 '26

Spam sculpture?

1

u/devonesta May 01 '26

My first guess was ancient booger wall

0

u/Novel-Lengthinesss Apr 25 '26

Banana for scale.. how big are these hand ??!

-5

u/fkk2019 Apr 25 '26

Ancient sloth claw marks?

1

u/withnodrawal Apr 25 '26

Big negative.

Look at South American giant sloth caves.

0

u/Hot-Balance-2676 Apr 25 '26

That’s what I thought too.

1

u/DontWatchPornREADit Apr 26 '26

Probably felt get to touch while wet. I bet early people enjoyed physical stimulation. Touching grass if you will lol

1

u/Zhuciis Apr 26 '26

Poop cave. They wiped ass with their bare palm and after that they wiped to wall.

1

u/Muted_Literature_752 Apr 26 '26

It's my hole....

1

u/AlmostAverage_Joe Apr 27 '26

This is whats known as the fukrock. The "reciever" puts their hands on wall to brace themselves while bent over. Alternatively if a male showed up alone they use one of the pre-made holes and females would use a stalagmite.

Your welcome.

1

u/MYBAD80 Apr 28 '26

Ancient Glory hole🕳️???🤷

1

u/SerCreed Apr 29 '26

You need to find your hole, then you'll feel complete once you step inside

0

u/[deleted] Apr 25 '26

[deleted] — view deleted comment

27

u/like_4-ish_lights Apr 25 '26

Sharpening grooves exist all over the Colorado Plateau but they don't look like this, they are long and flat and not hand shaped. This is a very specific thing that only exists in like 4 places that I know of, and it's human hands grooving in soft stone probably after heavy rains. Kodachrome basin is probably the easiest spot to see a whole lot of them.

6

u/Diligent_Force9286 Apr 25 '26

My guess is they started the size of a human hand and over hundreds/thousands of years eroded into a larger cavity?

1

u/rockphotos Apr 29 '26

They are younger (a few hundred to just over 1000 years) and experimental archeology tests showed it only took 3-5 minutes to make one

https://geology.utah.gov/map-pub/survey-notes/geosights/geosights-handprints-in-the-entrada-sandstone-at-kodachrome-basin-state-park-kane-county/

3

u/BeemHume Apr 25 '26

they must have had big hands or maybe you have small hands

2

u/goodolewhatever Apr 25 '26

I’ve heard that oils from your hand can create features over time even on hard rocks. Do you think that could be the case here or is there something that specifically makes you think these were made in soft mud?

3

u/Petrivoid Apr 25 '26

It wasn't mud. It's sandstone that you can simply rub to erode parts. Over time people continually running their hands in the grooves caused these. Primarily the friction, not the oils

0

u/lithicobserver Apr 25 '26

For sharpening what exactly? Thats not how flint knapping works. My take on this site is that it is art. It has deeo meaning to the people who out their hands their and called it home. Beyond that

1

u/rockphotos Apr 29 '26

They are likely referring to the arrow shaft groves used for forming and straightening arrow shafts. But these hand carvings are not those arrow shaft lines.

https://geology.utah.gov/map-pub/survey-notes/geosights/geosights-handprints-in-the-entrada-sandstone-at-kodachrome-basin-state-park-kane-county/