This site is no secret – the local community knows all about it. Several dirt roads lead up to it and a stone boundary keeps away the vehicles. The ground around the site is scattered with modern debris – shotgun shells, bottles, broken glass – and the petroglyphs themselves have been vandalized by tracing over them and in one case by carving crude additions into the rock. A sign warns rock climbers away from the petroglyphs but the site is nonetheless covered in climbing talc and some of the vandalism is far enough above ground that it was likely done by a climber.
That’s a depressing introduction, isn’t it? Don’t let that scare you away – this site is still really interesting and has some amazing and unique features! For example, the number of cupules and mortars ground into the rock at this site is amazing. How much time did it take to make them all, and what meaning did they have?
The petroglyphs themselves are big and impressive despite the vandalism. Most of them have been filled in with red pigment, an uncommon feature for petroglyphs. There are a few other sites in the same area where the petroglyphs have also been carefully painted in with red pigment.
On this side of the boulder the lower terrace is covered in pits and cupules ground into the rock. Many of these are quite deep – this isn’t something that was done in an afternoon. If this site is ritualistic – and the placing of the cupules and pits suggest it was, being at an angle like this – it was probably in use for a fairly long time in order to create this many pits and cupules. The overhang behind these cupules and pits has several deeply carved petroglyphs, first filled in with pigment and then chalked by modern hands.
An overview of the site, which is close to several dirt roads. The vicinity is scattered with modern litter. A sign warns climbers away from the boulder but it is nevertheless covered in climbing chalk.
That is a whole lot of pits and cupules.
Even in its sad state this site is still very interesting. The most notable feature is the one mentioned in the site’s nickname – the entire eastern side of the boulder is pockmarked with pits ground into the stone. Although many of these are technically too large to be called cupules I couldn’t resist the nickname – and there are some real cupules at the site, too.
Cupules are strongly associated with fertility rites in the Northwest – women would ground cupules into “baby rocks” in the hope that they would take strength from the rock and bear strong, healthy offspring. The ethnographic record doesn’t support this practice in the Great Basin — the locale of this site — but neither does it outright discredit it, so we do not know the meaning behind these. They are likely ritualistic but we don’t know for sure.
Opposite the cupules and pits is another panel of petroglyphs, more elaborate than the first.
The stone between the two petroglyph overhangs also has some elements on it. Especially interesting is the long line of carefully painted hashmarks that stretches all the way across to the far side of the second petroglyph panel. Let’s DStretch this photograph to make that clearer.
Notice how the line of hashmarks ( right in the center of the picture ) stretches from about the middle of the picture all the way across the petroglyph panel to the right. We’ll look at additional photos of this later.
Now we’re looking straight at the panel. The right side of the boulder is covered with lichen. There are some cupules ground into the boulder underneath this lichen. They are almost impossible to photograph. You can see one of them as a dark area below the lichen. There are also some cupules on the shelf in the lower center of the photo. Note the pecked hashmarks running cross the panel. Most of the elements are bisected circles. They have been painted in dark red pigment at some point, and unfortunately chalked over in modern times. The latter addition ruins the aesthetics of the panel.
The same picture with DStretch. The line of marks and the circle elements stand out clearly. Also note the two faint elements top center – a circle with hash marks across the top, and above that another element.
Some of the elements were created by pecks with a pretty large hammerstone. The way the pigment is distributed in the element shows this very clearly in this picture of the upper right element in the panel.
Note that the line of hashmarks we examined earlier is really a series of very shallow pits / pecks. Here the center left element also has a short string of pits below it. Unfortunately the effect is spoiled by the chalk.
The lower part of the panel looks like a mess in overview shots, but it is actually a series of lines, all created by dragging a hammerstone across the surface until a groove was made in the soft rock.
The best attempt at showing the cupules in the lichen. There is one lower left, and two more – one completely filled in with dark lichen just northwest of center, another almost dead center in the upper third of the picture – above it.
One more view of the whole panel. The elements at the top of the panel are about 8 to 9 feet off the ground. Maybe the dirt around the boulder has washed away over the years, or perhaps the artist stood on something to carve them.
The petroglyphs on the rock surface between the two panels. While many are in a different style than the main panels – Rectinilear or Curvilinear squiggle lines – there are also bisected circles on this panel and, of course, the line of pecked hashmarks. A DStretch photo follows.
When DStretch is used the elements show up nicely thanks to the red pigment rubbed into them.
The petroglyph panel on the other side of the boulder, above the host of cupules and pits. Once again the petroglyphs are defaced with chalk.
This panel also has a bisected circle with a long tail, and a few ground dots in a row.
A short distance away from this boulder is another, much smaller boulder – one of many in the area – that has several deep, smooth V-shaped groves scraped into it. This is a curious arrangement. Maybe this rock served some utilitarian purpose, such as helping shape or sharpen tools, or maybe there was some ritual associated with this, too.
A short distance away is a second boulder with several very deep, V-shaped grooves. It looks like this boulder may have been used to shape or sharpen tools – the grooves have a very utilitarian look to them.
The deep gashes on the rock.
The petroglyphs have been traced in chalk, destroying much of the aesthetic value. The chalk is completely unnecessary – the petroglyphs are large and deeply carved, very easy to see. There is also plenty of red pigment rubbed into the petroglyphs. This is unusual for petroglyphs but this site is one of several in the Volcanic Tablelands that is decorated in this way. The “Fall Funnel” and “Circle Obelisk” sites are some others that have red pigment rubbed into petroglyphs.
If you visit this site make sure to leave no trace of your visit.