Big and Little Petroglyph Canyons are two principal landforms within which are found major accumulations of
Paleo-Indian and/or
Native American Petroglyphs
A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...
, or
rock art
In archaeology, rock art is human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type also ...
, by the
Coso People located in the
Coso Range
The Coso Range of eastern California is located immediately south of Owens Lake, east of the Sierra Nevada, and west of the Argus Range. The southern part of the range lies in the restricted Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake and the northern pa ...
Mountains of the northern
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...
, and now within the
Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake
Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) China Lake is a large military installation in California that supports the research, testing and evaluation programs of the United States Navy. It is part of Navy Region Southwest under Commander, Navy Installat ...
, near the towns of
China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake is a United States military facility in California.
China Lake may also refer to:
Places in the United States
*China Lake, Kern County, California, an unincorporated community named for a nearby dry lake
*Chi ...
and
Ridgecrest, California
Ridgecrest is a city in Kern County, California, United States, along U.S. Route 395 in the Indian Wells Valley in northeastern Kern County, adjacent to the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake (NAWS, or China Lake). It was incorporated as a ...
. Little Petroglyph Canyon contains 20,000 documented images, which surpasses in number for most other collections. Additionally, the archeological resources are remarkably undisturbed.
History
The Coso Petroglyphs have been subject to various interpretations as to their meaning and function. One perspective argues that the drawings are metaphoric images correlated with individual shamanic vision quests. Alternatively it has been argued that they are part of a hunting religion that included increase rites and were associated with a sheep cult ceremonial complex. However these alternative explanations might be somewhat complementary in that the medicine persons could have been the artisans but their messages might have often been associated with religious observances centering on the veneration of bighorn sheep.
In addition to the extant petroglyph rock art, the Coso People carried out extensive working of
obsidian
Obsidian () is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extrusive rock, extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock.
Obsidian is produced from felsic lava, rich in the lighter elements s ...
tools and other 'manufacturing.' There is considerable archaeological evidence substantiating trade of these products between the Coso People and other
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples.
Many Indigenous peoples of the A ...
and
Native American tribes. For example, distant trade with the southern Californian Pacific coast
Chumash People
The Chumash are a Native American people of the central and southern coastal regions of California, in portions of what is now San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties, extending from Morro Bay in the north to Malibu ...
is confirmed by
archaeological
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
recovery from California sites in
San Luis Obispo County, California
San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a County (United States), county on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 282, ...
[C. Michael Hogan. 2008. ''Morro Creek'', ed. by A. Burnham http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=18502] and other coastal indigenous peoples' sites.
Big and Little Petroglyph Canyons are situated on property of the
China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station. The two canyons are a designated U.S.
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
. In 2001, they were incorporated into a larger
National Historic Landmark District
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, ce ...
, called the
Coso Rock Art District
Coso Rock Art District is a rock art site containing over 100,000 Petroglyphs by Paleo-Indians and/or Native Americans. The district is located near the towns of China Lake and Ridgecrest, California. Big and Little Petroglyph Canyons were ...
.
In 2014, the
Ridgecrest Petroglyph Festival was created as an annual celebration and showcase the petroglyphs located in the two canyons.
See also
*
Paleo-Indians
*
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. W ...
*
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans, also known as American Indians, First Americans, Indigenous Americans, and other terms, are the Indigenous peoples of the mainland United States ( Indigenous peoples of Hawaii, Alaska and territories of the United State ...
*
Population history of American indigenous peoples
References
Resources
* Caroline Arnold and Richard Hewett. 1996. ''Stories in stone: rock art pictures by early Americans'', 48 pages, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, ,
* C. Michael Hogan. 2008. ''Morro Creek'', ed. by A. Burnha
* Mildred Brooke Hoover, Douglas E. Kyle and Hero Rensch. 2002. ''Historic spots in California'', 661 pp, Stanford University Press, ,
*Alan P. Garfinkel. 2006. Paradigm Shifts, Rock Art Studies, and the 'Coso Sheep Cult' of Eastern California. North American Archaeologist 27(3):203-244
*Alan P. Garfinkel. 2007. Archaeology and Rock Art of the Eastern Sierra and Great Basin Frontier, Maturango Museum Publication 22, Ridgecrest, California.
*Alan P.Garfinkel, Donald R. Austin, David Earle, and Harold Williams. 2009. Myth, Ritual and Rock Art: Coso Decorated Animal-Humans and the Animal Master. Rock Art Research 26(2):179-197. The Journal of the Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) and of the International Federation of Rock Art Organizations (IFRAO).
*Alan P. Garfinkel, David A. Young, and Robert M. Yohe, II. 2010. Bighorn Hunting, Resource Depression, and Rock Art in the Coso Range of Eastern California: A Computer Simulation Model. Journal of Archaeological Science 37:42-51.
*Alan P.Garfinkel and Donald R. Austin. 2011. Reproductive Symbolism in Great Basin Rock Art: Bighorn Sheep Hunting, Fertility, and Forager Ideology. Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 21(3):453-471
External links
Official Maturango Museum website Information + tours.
at
Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake
Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) China Lake is a large military installation in California that supports the research, testing and evaluation programs of the United States Navy. It is part of Navy Region Southwest under Commander, Navy Installat ...
Petroglyphs Tour Info
*Maturango Museum, 100 E. Las Flores Ave., Ridgecrest, CA 93555; (760) 375-6900, http://www.maturango.or
*Naval Air Weapons Station, (760) 939-1683
NAWS China Lake - Petroglyph Tours*Rock Art 101, rock art training seminars http://www.rockart101.com
*
Ridgecrest Petroglyph and Heritage Festival The Ridgecrest Petroglyph Festival is an annual weekend-long festival held in Ridgecrest, California, celebrating the Coso people, and specifically the 10,000-year-old petroglyphs of the Coso Rock Art District. The festival was founded in 2014, ...
, http://www.rpfestival.com
{{Registered Historic Places
Petroglyphs in California
Native American history of California
Northern Paiute, Coso
History of the Mojave Desert region
History of Inyo County, California
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in California
National Historic Landmarks in California
Protected areas of the Mojave Desert
Protected areas of Inyo County, California
Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in California
National Register of Historic Places in Inyo County, California