THIS UNNAMED GEOLOGICAL formation is the likely result of wind, rain and time eroading away surface material to expose what at one time would have lava (magma) that had cooled and solidified. Copyright © 2010 by DL Tolleson. All Rights Reserved.
COMING INTO OR out of the Chisos Mountains, this is the northwest view and is several miles south of Panther Junction and the headquarters for Big Bend National Park. Copyright © 2010 by DL Tolleson. All Rights Reserved.
THE CLARET CUP is covered in barbed spines and blooms a reddish, cup-shaped flower from about April to June or July in Big Bend National Park. Copyright © 2010 by DL Tolleson. All Rights Reserved.
THIS VIEW FROM a formation called, “The Window,” looks out from the westside of the Chisos Mountains in Big Bend National Park. Copyright © 2010 by DL Tolleson. All Rights Reserved.
INDIAN HEAD MOUNTAIN and its southern region offers this “leaning” wall of geology at the western boundary of Big Bend National Park. The rocks of the foreground are boulders ranging from man-sized on up. Copyright © 2010 by DL Tolleson. All Rights Reserved.
MASSIVE AND TOWERING, this wall of the geology is at least a couple of hundrend feet high and situated in the Indian Head area of Big Bend National Park. Copyright © 2010 by DL Tolleson. All Rights Reserved.
WIDE-OPEN PANORAMAS and mountainous terrain such as this are routine along roadside in Big Bend National Park. Copyright © 2010 by DL Tolleson. All Rights Reserved.
THE SOUTHWEST SIDE of the Chisos Mountains, also known as the Chisos Mountain Basin and home to the lodge in Big Bend National Park. Copyright © 2011 by DL Tolleson. All Rights Reserved.
A FALLEN TREE is an impassable barrier in an otherwise debris-free dry riverbed in Big Bend National Park. Copyright © 2010 by DL Tolleson. All Rights Reserved.
INDIGENOUS TO TEXAS, New Mexico and Arizona, Javelinas in Big Bend National Park genetically differ from swine. Copyright © 2010 by DL Tolleson. All Rights Reserved.
LOST MINE TRAIL in Big Bend National Park, looking southward over Juniper Canyon, the Chisos Mountain’s Northeast Rim and into Mexico. Copyright © 2010 by DL Tolleson. All Rights Reserved.
A TREE SILHOUETTED against the night sky as seen from Chisos Basin in Big Bend National Park. Copyright © 2010 by DL Tolleson. All Rights Reserved.
THIS VIEW EAST of a volcano is an illusion of the setting sun streaming through the Chisos Basin area behind Casa Grande Peak in Big Bend National Park. Copyright © 2010 by DL Tolleson. All Rights Reserved.
WRIGHT MOUNTAIN in background at Big Bend National Park. Copyright © 2010 by DL Tolleson. All Rights Reserved.
A VIEW WESTWARD after sundown from the Indian Head area of Big Bend National Park. Copyright © 2010 by DL Tolleson. All Rights Reserved.
A CAMERA COMPENSATION for the limited light after sundown provides this view westward from the Indian Head area of Big Bend National Park. Copyright © 2010 by DL Tolleson/Camera One. All Rights Reserved.
SANTA ELENA CANYON after sunset, as seen from the Chimneys in Big Bend National Park. Copyright © 2010 by DL Tolleson/Camera One. All Rights Reserved.

DL Tolleson.com

Author, Photographer, Researcher, Artist, Adventurer and Buccaneer Extraordinaire

“Or at least that’s the plan each morning after coffee.”


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Pottery Shards Image

Copyright © 2011, 2014 by DL Tolleson/Camera One. All Rights Reserved. This image may not be reproduced in any form or by any means without written permission from the author/photographer.

Pottery Shards Image

Copyright © 2011, 2014 by DL Tolleson/Camera One. All Rights Reserved. This image may not be reproduced in any form or by any means without written permission from the author/photographer.

Fragmentos de Alfarería, Hecho en México, No. 5B

The title, Fragmentos de Alfarería, Hecho en México (Pottery Shards Made in Mexico, or literally, “Fragments of Pottery Done in Mexico”) is the tip-off to you that was unavailable to me when coming across these “shards” in Santa Elena Canyon.

An initial moment of joy was in contemplating the discovery of Native Indian artwork on pottery shards. Common sense then took over: The shards are made of the wrong material to be of Native American origin. The artwork itself is of the wrong coloring (and thus also likely to be of the wrong medium). And finally the artwork is on the inside curvature of the shards (rather than on the outside of the curved shards).

So, what has brought these into existence and transported them to this location? Well, most likely the artwork was done by Mexican children directly onto the sunbaked ground. After relentless sun-exposure, the dried ground cracked and, “curled up,” as demonstrated by the surrounding surface area.

But deductions aside—and without a background in ancient Native American pottery—I photographed the shards, their location and my fedora for a comparison of scale. I then showed these to a Park Ranger who confirmed that the material and the medium are indeed, NOT of Native American origin. The Ranger didn’t opine on the evolution of events as I have hereinabove, and I didn’t ask. But that seems the most logical explanation.

—DL Tolleson


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Camera Data

CAMERA
Nikon D300S

LENS
VR 18-200mm, F/3.5 - 5.6G

FOCAL LENGTH
46mm

FOCUS MODE
AF-C

AF-AREA MODE
Auto

VR
On

Exposure Data

APERTURE
F/16

SHUTTER SPEED
1/160s

EXPOSURE MODE
Manual

EXPOSURE COMP
0EV

METERING
Spot

ISO
200

Image Data

ORIG IMAGE QUALITY
Tiff-RGB (8-bit)

ORIG IMAGE SIZE
4288 x 2848

ORIG DATA SIZE
35.1 MB

CAPTURE DATE
10/21/2011

Flash Data

FLASH SYNC MODE
Vivitar Vari Sensor

FLASH MODE
Vivitar 365 zoom thyristor

FLASH EXPOSURE COMP
Unannotated
Original and Web-based Image

The original image is a Tagged Image Format File (TIFF) with a file data size of 35.1 megabytes (MB).

For display on this web site the TIFF was duplicated and the duplicate re-formatted as a Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPG/JPEG) image with a file data size of 4.85 MB. To approximate detail visible at the time of capture the image was sharpened as necessary and resampled via the Photoshop Bicubic Sharpen algorithm. The re-sampling increases the image resolution from 300 Dots Per Square Inch (DPI) to 360 DPI.

Unless otherwise noted the image was corrected to offset color shift and balance. This restores black (shadows), white (highlights) and neutral gray (neutral mid-tones).

Image Naming Convention

• An unnumbered image is the only one of the subject matter.

• A number corresponds to the sequential order in a subject-matter-related sequence.

• The letter “B” indicates color correction to approximate what was visible when the image was captured.

• The letter “C” indicates enhancement beyond an approximation of what was visible at the time of capture.

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