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.
The walk to get there was a pleasant stroll along a creek, followed by a determined stomp through drifts of tumbleweed. All that was topped off with weaving through boulders, scouting for the pictographs that we knew had to be around here – somewhere!
I was bringing up the rear, looking for grinding slicks or mortars or lithic scatter, when my companion up ahead shouted out. He had found the pictographs and was very impressed by them. I scurried over to where he was. The pictographs are on a boulder tucked in under a large overhang, and the panel was revealed in stages as I rounded the overhang.
What a sight, though! These pictographs, with both Yokuts-like and quintessentially Tübatulabal elements, are well-protected and well preserved. This is one of my companion’s favorite kind of sites: impressive but contained. He has to spend a lot of time waiting for me to finish meandering around with two cameras, taking pictures of absolutely everything, wide angle lens first to establish context, then careful detail shots with the full frame camera, move on a couple feet, repeat exercise … so when we find an impressive but well-contained site, it is his favorite kind for sure.
Now, let’s look at what we found.
The first find of the day is an outcropping with some grinding slicks. Closeup of one of the large grinding slicks.Some distance away, a much larger boulder has plenty more grinding slicks. This was definitely an encampment or a village at some point. I suspect that this may have been the site of a village named omomïp, which was still occupied in the 1930’s.One of the grinding slicks on this boulder.Shortly afterwards, we come upon the pictograph site. Here it is seen peeking out from behind the big boulder overhang.The whole panel.With DStretch. The circular element is very reminiscent of pictographs at other nearby Tübatulabal settlements, and the pelt figures are very Yokuts-like, while the smaller, solid anthropomorphs are both Chumash-like and very similar to nearby Tübatulabal figures.The upper images are painted high above the ground. I’m not sure how the artist reached this high to paint them. Maybe the boulder down below the panel was dislodged in an earthquake, maybe some sort of scaffolding was used.These images are still very vidid, but I DStretched them so we can see the fainter elements as well. There is another anthropomorph to the right of the grid shape. The rightmost pelt figure is digitate.
Now look closely at the panel. There is more to it than meets the eye.Right in the center, by the large pelt figure, there is a faded, intricate element. Elements made up of lines of finger dots, like this, is also found elsewhere in the area. We also see a hint of legs for the large figure, as well as a hashmark line on one side of its head. This DStretch also shows the small figure next to it on the other side – another digitate anthropomorph or zoomorph.Let’s try for a closer shot.Here’s a DStretch version.Another of the smaller anthropomorphs. This one has a hollow head – similar to some of the images at the “Indian Slate” site.With DStretch we can see its fingers and toes clearly.The figure right by the edge of the panel seems like it also has a hollow head.Yes, it is very similar to the other figure. It is curious how it is incompletely painted, right by the edge of the boulder.A step back, to see the whole panel in perspective again.Off to the side, these two figures exhibit characteristics of Chumash elements ( the bent elbows and upturned feet ) but they also share headdress arrangements very similar to the “Tale of Years” site.DStretch to help show that clearly. There are some additional anthropomorphs nearby on this panel, too, including one to the left of the two characters that is very faded.
In under the shady overhang.It looks like the incomplete figure was purposefully painted that way. It is also digitate. Up above the other figure has a horizontal line through its head.Up above the pictograph boulder there is a single grinding slick.Our visit is over. Time to go. The gap where the grinding slick is is visible above the panel. You can see where parts of the panel exfoliated away, too.
This was a really special site to visit – the elements at this site all have echoes, counterparts, at different panels in the region. If you visit, treat the panel with respect, and think of the people who created it and what this land meant to them.
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2 thoughts on ““Floret Field Find” Pictographs”
Richard Molinar
Very exciting. Thanks for sharing this find.
I’m curious, Was this the first time you and your friend saw this site?
How did you learn about it? Is there a group or society you belong to to learn about these?
Yes, first visit to this site. The vast majority of sites that we visit we find on our own, but for a small handful of them we get to visit with fellow explorers who have discovered a site. I keep meaning to sign up with a rock art group, and I keep not quite getting around to it!
Very exciting. Thanks for sharing this find.
I’m curious, Was this the first time you and your friend saw this site?
How did you learn about it? Is there a group or society you belong to to learn about these?
Thanks, Richard
Yes, first visit to this site. The vast majority of sites that we visit we find on our own, but for a small handful of them we get to visit with fellow explorers who have discovered a site. I keep meaning to sign up with a rock art group, and I keep not quite getting around to it!