Tag Archives: solstice observation

Counsel Rocks – Womb Rock Petroglyphs

This is one of the most awe-inspiring sites I’ve visited to date, because of the feeling of great age and meaning that surrounds this site – more so than most other sites I have been to. The volcanic tuff making up the boulders in this vicinity is relatively soft ( for rock! ) but also quite rough to the touch. Yet, at this site, a lot of the surface area is worn smooth and patinated. That is the kind of look only rock touched by human hands over a great period of time will acquire.

Some researchers speculated about the astronomical ties this site might have to the winter solstice, and estimated that the site may have first come into use at around 250 B.C. to 250 A.D. If true, that is an impressive age.

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“Brunette Lady” Pictographs

This companion site to the more well-known Red Lady or “Lone Woman of the Cave” site in Joshua Tree National Park is located in the same general vicinity.

It is also thought to depict the Chemehuevi legend of Tavapëtsi, the Sun, impregnating a woman with rays of sunlight ( specifically, the fan of light that can be seen shining down from the sun when the atmospheric conditions are just right ). The legend claims that the woman birthed twin sons for Tavapëtsi. In general, the legend is tied to the spring equinox and the period of fertility spring brings to nature.

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Shooting Star Pictographs Featured Image

“Shooting Star” Pictographs

This pictograph site is perched on the eastern bank of a seasonal creek that runs southerly out of a stubby little valley. It is surrounded on three sides by steep peaks, and the site itself is nestled on the knee of the steep hillside above the creek bed. The boulder these pictographs are located on is larger than any others in the immediate vicinity. Continue reading