Rock art does not have a singular function in the physical images or meaning of the object -- it may be religious or historically commemorative, or use extraordinary or ordinary symbols, depending on how the tribe wishes to make its mark upon the surface of nature, and the type of transfer of tribal power that is being conducted in the specific circumstances. The main unifying theme in all of the various potential acts of rock art, is that the act of leaving the tribe's mark upon the rock is in itself a rite performed, and adds additional significance to the meaning of the images, whatever that meaning may be for the tribe. Although rock art can provide a variety of symbolic, commemorative, and spiritual functions, and it may involve symbolic images very particular to a tribe or region (like the Mexican rain dog or like suns or spirals in the art of the Southwest), icons particular to the daily life of tribe (the Anasazi basket-weaver), mark religious or ceremonial acts (like the taking of hallucinatory drugs or seasonal...

Sadly, vandals have impinged upon much of the extant record of rock art. Ironically, in an individualistic as opposed to a tribal way, Christians and other persons outside of the native community that produced the art have encroached upon the tribal art through as a way of making their own marks upon the places. But still, thanks to the conscientious preservation efforts of many extant Indian tribes, the art still lives on in many locations of these once sacred spaces.