This site is located next to a small creek in historical Tübatulabal territory.
These pictographs are found in a rather large rock shelter, further protected by smaller boulders in front of the pictograph area.
The ceiling of this tall shelter shows substantial soot accumulation, suggesting extensive use. However I found only a single, rather shallow mortar grind hole nearby. It is located on a small boulder in the far northeast part of the shelter, well clear of the pictograph area.
This shot shows only part of the rock shelter, but the part shown contains all the pictograph elements present.
Six red dots next to a crack in the rock.
There are three pictograph elements at this site. In the overview above, the two most striking elements are clearly visible.
The third element, consisting of six dots spread evenly on both sides of a crack in the rock, is located astride the crack in the far left of the photo. The whiter areas adjacent to the crack are natural to the rock face.
This motif of single, deliberate dots in isolation from other elements also occurs elsewhere in Tübatulabal territory.
The center pictograph.
The center element merits some closer examination. At first glance it seems excitingly unusual because of what appears to be bright yellow pigment in its center. Viewed in person it is clear that this pigment is really a patch of bright lime-green lichen on the rock. Anybody who’s spent any time poking around rocks has seen this kind of lichen before!
This doesn’t make the element any less interesting! The placement of the pictograph in relation to the lichen is too precise to be coincidental. It seems very likely that this lichen patch was intentionally decorated with red paint to form a pictograph.
While it goes without saying that we do not know what most pictographs represent, this element definitely brings to mind an astronomical phenomenon such as a comet. It is possible that the lichen patch was specifically chosen to represent the body of the “comet”, since yellow pigment is very rare in pictographs, so using a lichen patch may have been the only way to obtain this color.
Looking up at the “comet” element from below. It is a little over two feet tall and one foot across in size. The overhanging rock shelf is above head height. Also note the faint black lines on the underside of the shelf. They are probably related to the black grid behind the pictograph.
Back to the lichen: while its growth rate varies depending on species and environmental conditions, lichen tends to be slow growing – perhaps a patch will increase its diameter by between a quarter and three quarters of an inch per century, with most lichen being on the low end of that range, especially in a dry, protected environment like this one. The lichen patch was almost certainly smaller when this pictograph was painted.
A DStretch enhancement shows the confines of the red pigment.
Looking closely, we can see that the lichen has started to overgrow the confines of the pictograph around it. Analysis of cultural deposits in this general area have dated the Tübatulabal occupation of this area as far back as 1,200 BC. These pictographs are nowhere near that age unless this lichen patch is very atypical. It is likely that these pictographs are several centuries old.
Even though the natural thing is to think that the bottom part of the pictograph would be a circle encompassing the lichen patch, this is not in fact so. There is no trace of pigment in the upper quadrant of the circle between the outer two ascending lines. The two outer lines are thicker and more vivid than the center line.
This element consists of more than just the red pigment and the lichen patch, though.
The black lines.
There are black grid lines present behind the three upward trailing lines – visible with the naked eye and also in the first photograph, once you look past the more striking features of this pictograph. A DStretch image manipulation targeted at darker pigments highlights them.
The leftmost line of the pictograph has been damaged by an accumulation of lichen or mold, or perhaps an accumulation of sediment left behind by a water trickle.
The final pictograph element is a curious, vaguely bell-shaped design. The sides are vividly drawn in a dark red, almost blood-like pigment. This pigment is unlike any I’ve seen before – fluid and dark, it really gives the impression that the lines were made by a finger dipped in dark red blood.
The bell-shaped pictograph.
The bottom of the design is a faded squiggle-line connecting the two sides. This squiggle-line is curiously faded compared to the rest of the design. Possibly it was drawn with a different pigment, or with the same pigment but using a different binding agent that has been less resistant to fading.
The design itself is unusual and does not echo any other elements I know of. My modern mind thinks of a Pac-Man ghost or a bell. What the shape was intended to represent I do not know.
DStretch shows the squiggle-line.
The squiggle-line shape often represents a snake, which in turn had meaning to many tribes – usually of a benevolent nature, such as being a spirit guide. That said, the unsettling appearance of the pigment makes it hard to imagine that the shape was intended to show something good.
Maybe it is connected with the other, comet-like element, and commemorates a comet strike and subsequent fire, or something of that sort. Like I said before, we really do not know what these shapes mean, and any interpretation is just that: an attempt to assign meaning to something we do not have any knowledge of. It is interesting to think about these shapes and what they may have meant, and doing so enhances the experience of viewing them, but in the end we have to walk away from them knowing that we do not know.
A single mortar.
The shelter these elements occur in offers a nice view of the surrounding landscape, and is now shaded by vegetation. The well-blackened ceiling suggests extensive use, but apart from the single mortar hole mentioned previously, there are no other signs of habitation.
If you do come across this site, please respect it and the fragile nature of pictographs. Resist the temptation to trace the elements with your fingers. You will leave behind natural skin oils that damage the pigment. Instead, observe and photograph them, but do not alter or touch them in any way. Leave them as you found them for others to discover and marvel at.