Today’s find is something a bit different from what we’ve had recently: a pictograph site in the Owens Valley!
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“Pandit Plain” Pictographs
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Category Archives: Sierra Nevada
“Floret Field Find” Pictographs
The Tübatulabal have lived in the Kern River Valley for time immemorial – they do not have a migration myth of any kind. Instead, their stories tell that they have always been here.
During the summer months they ranged into the foothills of the southern Sierra, gathering the pine nuts that gave them their tribal name – pine-nut eaters. During winter months, they retreated to their winter villages, semi-permanent settlements dotting the Kern River Valley, close by good water sources.
We went out to a very well-preserved Tübatulabal pictograph site during springtime. It is close to a couple of traditional village sites – maybe it was within the village, given the presence of several grinding slicks nearby.
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“The Cure” Pictographs
Several years ago, we travelled through Western Mono territory and visited a few pictograph sites. I had somehow not gotten around to writing about this site until now.
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“Shepherd Sector” Pictographs
Over the summer we bid farewell to the low country for a day and went roaming around the toes of the Sierra, looking for traces of the past. The drive in was my favorite kind, changing from blacktop to graded dirt to bumpy two-track to a place to park.
“Eye Of The Beholder” Pictographs
This site is a pretty small one, consisting of a single panel on a modest boulder with two very shallow bedrock mortars close by. The pictographs are still very vivid even though the site is quite exposed to the elements. I’m wondering whether this site is fairly modern – or maybe the binding agent in the pigment is particularly robust. The pigment and pictographs themselves definitely appear authentic – no modern paint used here!
“Go Robot” Pictographs
What do you do when you need to escape the heat and questionable air quality of lower elevations in mid-summer Central California? We went driving up into the Sierra foothills which – spoiler! – was almost as hot and smoky as the lower elevations. Dang!
But we did find something to make the trip worthwhile – a nice little site on a large boulder with a scenic view.
“Take a Bow” Pictographs
We happened upon a small pictograph site on a rather desolate hill in Kawaiisu territory one hot summer day. I had foolishly thought that, since the desert was out of bounds with inhumane temperatures, we could at least enjoy the foothills in early morning. Turned out I was really wrong! Boy! It was barely 10 in the morning and we were already sweating buckets in sweltering temperatures and looking forward to recuperating at a nice microbrewery on the way back home. Beware the summer, everyone!
“Tale of Years” – The Twins
A couple of years ago I was in the area and went to visit the “Tale Of Years” site again, since my pictures from my first visit to this site were not that great. The site was still in good condition back then, and now, more than two years later, I finally get around to posting the pictures.
For a complete overview of the site, see the original post I linked to above. Here I’m just going to touch on a handful of highlights that are better shown with this set of pictures.
“Smooth Sailing” Pictographs
Okay, so this little site was a complete surprise, and is a bit of a mystery to me!
Backing up a bit: the summer heat had baked us clean out of the high desert, so we fled for the Sierra foothills, only to find that we brought the heat along with us. I was plodding up a slope, head down, thinking thoughts about being another few thousand feet higher up where maybe, finally, the summer heat would let up, and wondering why it felt like I just couldn’t reach that nice-looking rock I wanted to check out … when I lifted my head, saw the rock right in front of me, and … stared blankly at what seemed like a blank rock face.
Hospital Rock Pictographs
The Hospital Rock pictograph site in Sequoia National Park is openly advertised as a point of interest by the National Park Service, and thus is well worth visiting if you’re headed to the Park. The pictographs are enormous and striking.