This is a small pictograph site that we found while exploring a much larger complex in Kawaiisu territory. It consists of only two pictographs in a narrow rock shelter, but it seems to tie in well with the rest of the site. The pictographs at this location all seem to share a common theme.
Let’s have a look!
Lithic scatter is always exciting – it holds the promise that there may be more to see if you’re willing to walk just a little longer. In this case, we were well rewarded. I’ve found one or two points while exploring, but I don’t ever pick them up or disturb them. Remember that these artifacts, in situ, are valuable data points for researchers, and that they are protected from theft.
An interesting formation draws our attention and we veer over to have a look.
Good deal! The narrow shelter holds a couple of pictographs. In this picture you can look at the lighter area just to the right of center – there’s quite a bit of pigment there!
I crawl into the narrow space first and get out the camera. This looks really interesting! There’s a lot of pigment here – it looks like the main element may be one of the hash-marked circles or lines that are surprisingly common in Kawaiisu and Tübatulabal territory.
A good helping of DStretch confirm my suspicions, and also shows the second element at the site – a little sun burst symbol to the upper left of the larger element.
Let’s take a closer look at the main pictograph. This is what you see with the naked eye.
This is the DStretch version. Note how precise the spokes of the element are! It is actually not a hash-marked element as we thought when we saw it with the naked eye. It is a very elaborate burst element, very interestingly drawn because it makes use of negative space, with a super-imposed hash-mark line above it. Wow! Here’s what I mean with negative space – the “rays” of the burst is the plain rock, and the pigment is actually the spaces in between the rays! That is an uncommon design in pictographs, and I’ve only seen this technique in a petroglyph panel, at the Steam Wells site. You can tell that the hash-marked element was superimposed by looking at the far left of it, where you can see the darker lines overlaying the fainter rays below it. You can also see the little sunburst element very clearly in this DStretch.
The author examining a blob of red in the shelter that turned out to be natural pigment. A lot of outtakes from our expeditions feature one or the other of us peering intently at rocks – very often rocks still in a natural state! It is sometimes nice to be reminded of the hard work that went into the end result you are reading right now.
A last look out from within the narrow little shelter before we pack up and move on, leaving the shelter to its quiet existence.
This was a great little site to discover and visit. If you find it, I hope you enjoy it too. Take care while moving around in the shelter, though – it is cramped and you have to make sure you don’t brush up against the pictographs.