Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology

In sum, the Pectol shields have been the subject of debate since their discovery. Pectol thought they were 3,000-year-old objects demonstrating contact between Utah and Egypt via Pem. Beckwith thought they were ancient vestments of a high priest or medicine man. Morss and Malouf thought they were made by modern Indians, with Morss suggesting they had an affinity to Apache and Navajo. Wormington and Aikens believed they were Fremont artifacts, with Aikens suggesting they were Athapascan in origin or products of proto- Apacheans. Grant obtained a radiocarbon date that established their age within the past 300 years, and Schaafsma used this date to exclude them as products of the Fremont. Schaafsma, however, retained the belief of Wormington and Aikens that the rock art motif of the shield-bearing figure was made by the Fremont peoples, but its origin was not established.