Topock Maze is an archaeological site located south of

Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...

near Needles,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. The site consists of numerous rows and groups of parallel lines; while hypothesized to be a

geoglyph A geoglyph is a large design or motif (generally longer than 4 metres) produced on the ground by durable elements of the landscape, such as stones, stone fragments, gravel, or earth. A positive geoglyph is formed by the arrangement and alignmen ...

, the purpose, age, and creators of the lines are disputed. A 1908 report by Edward M. Curtis suggested that the site was built as some sort of maze or labyrinth, inspiring its name; however, later research has concluded that this was not the site's purpose. A 1978 study by Arda M. Haenszel proposed that the lines were prehistoric and had some sort of religious or ceremonial significance to the native

Mojave people Mohave or Mojave ( Mojave: 'Aha Makhav) are a Native American people indigenous to the Colorado River in the Mojave Desert. The Fort Mojave Indian Reservation includes territory within the borders of California, Arizona, and Nevada. The Colorad ...

; this conclusion was supported by a 2005 study. Archaeologist Ruth Arlene Musser-Lopez published a study in 2011 which concluded that the lines were created recently, likely by gravel scraping operations during railroad construction in the 1880s; however, they were built over a preexisting prehistoric art site. The site was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on October 5, 1978.

References

Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in California National Register of Historic Places in San Bernardino County, California Needles, California {{SanBernardinoCountyCA-NRHP-stub