Today’s find is something a bit different from what we’ve had recently: a pictograph site in the Owens Valley!
This site sits on the edge of a quite large habitation site, if the amount of lithic scatter on the ground is any guide. When it was recorded there was a portable granite metate sitting in front of the pictograph boulder but that’s gone now: most likely either carted off to a museum collection or stolen by someone with sticky fingers happening by. There’s also reports that the ranchers who settled here collected many stone artifacts and obsidian tools, so this was likely an extensive habitation site at one point.
There’s a perennial creek running below the site to serve as a water source, and access to the High Sierra is provided by a trail running up the creek that eventually meets up with the Kern River. Trails run all the way across the Sierra and have done so for thousands of years, so it is not surprising that the elements at this site are very reminiscent of those found on the western side of the Sierra.
Let’s look!
Obsidian on the ground.Here’s our quarry for the day. Doesn’t look like much at first glance, does it? Except maybe for that red line in the center right … better walk all around this guy to make sure it isn’t hiding anything else.Of course, in post-production I can cheat a little bit with DStretch. So let’s see what we have here … Hmm, I see at least three panels to look at. What do you see?Here’s the area where we saw the red line. Let’s DStretch it for more detail.You have to be careful with granite, since it often contains natural pigment intrusions – so you may think you see pictographs where there are none. In this case I’m not sure if the stuff on the left is natural or pictographs. I am somewhat inclined to say “pictographs” since the panel as a whole looks like a good surface for them, there’s still traces of stuff that looks a little too geometrical to be natural, and, well, it is fun to crack open DStretch and think you found something. The whole left part of the panel is where rain washes down the boulder in this area, so it is quite plausible that in this case there were indeed additional pictographs here, but they’re faded beyond recognition now.As for the less weathered part of the panel, even here it is hard to make out details. I think we can safely say that the line has a bisected circle up top but I’m not sure about the bottom. You could imagine one there, too. There also appears to be a zig-zag line to the left of this line, running towards the faded part of the panel. This may have been a very striking panel once, but now it is very hard to say what it might have looked like.Did you see the little panel down below in the initial overview? Here’s a close-up.This is a pretty little panel with a grid element design.Here it is in context, tucked in below the better preserved part of the larger panel. It is better protected from the rain and so it is less weathered.Once we walk a little further around the boulder we get a treat. There’s a much better preserved panel on this side!That looks good! Let’s take a closer look.The panel is mostly on the flatter part of the rock, but there are some elements on the curved part to the right as well.A closer look with DStretch, flattened to pick out the dominant red pigment.Much of the panel is very weathered due to exposure to run-off from the boulder above.The elements on the bulge of rock to the right of the main panel.What a nice surprise! In addition to the little “hammerhead” figure ( which reminds me a lot of the large figures we’ll see on the main panel in a minute, except that this little figure has digitate upper limbs ) there is a very delicate little anthropomorph, now much faded, and possibly even a double circle at that figure’s feet.A second set of elements right below the ones above.There’s a surprising amount of detail here, actually. I think there are several superimposed digitate anthropomorphs in this one.The main panel on the other hand is quite faded in places, which is no surprise given its exposure to the elements, so we may have a harder time seeing the details here. Let’s see what DStretch can do.DStretch can show us a ghost of what the panel looked like when painted. The imagery is very reminiscent of pictographs found on the western flanks of the Sierra, as well as in Tübatulabal territory. In this panel the “T” shape seems to dominate. Apart from the two larger figures there are also smaller figures in the lower right with the same motif.Moving slightly to the left to stand directly in front of the panel so we can see the elements on the left better.We can do several iterations with different DStretch algorithms, trying to target different pigments and highlight them. Let’s start with the same algorithm we just used, since it preserves the original colors to some extent. It is obvious that we’re looking at different pigment colors here – bright red, a more maroon red, and some orangish pigment as well. This site was originally recorded as the only polychrome pictograph site in the Owens Valley, but I know of others.Turning the DStretch knobs to grab onto red pigment highlights some figures that get lost in the general jumble of color. There is an elongated anthropomorph in the lower left with a possible zoomorph next to it, and it even looks like a chain motif is peeking out on the right hand side between the dumbbell shape and the little “T” shape with the bisected circle bottom. There’s at least one other chain motif pictograph site I can think of in the general area.For our final overview look, let’s flatten out the DStretch image even more. We’ve lost distinction between pigment colors, but gained some clarity of the elements. The left-most “T”-shaped figure is decorated with fringes, the anthropomorph next to it seems to have either no head or just lost its head, and above that we have a round figure in the distinctive “crooked elbow” style of the Western Sierra.This seems as good a time as any to point out the obvious – looks like this anthropomorph has a cowboy hat. These pictographs may not be all that old, dating from the contact period or after.The “hat” part of the element seems more faded, likely due to the fact that it is painted in the same purplish pigment that some of the other elements like the large “T” shapes are painted in. I don’t think this means the “hat” was added later – the wear on the panel seems pretty consistent and the elements of that color are not overlaying others. It is just that some pigments have weathered better than others – whether due to the pigment itself or the binding agent is hard to say.The lower left area of the panel, focusing on the “T” shape in particular.I find it interesting that the “T” shape has those red “fringes” on both sides, but they are just dots on the left side. That’s the side with four lines hanging off of the crossbar. The digitate anthropomorph to its right seems to have a tiny head. In this view we can also see how the bottom of the anthropomorph wearing the “hat”, seen in the top right here, is overlaid with almost a “turtle” shape – like a simplistic drawing of a fish pointing up, with a cross shape on top that makes it appear like a simple drawing of a turtle.It is really hard to sort out any distinct elements from the bottom part of the panel, which is very saturated, but we will try.There is an interesting element down here, seen here as the bright red element in the lower center. I’m not sure if it weathered better because the rock face is starting to slope inwards a little and it had slightly better weather protection, or if it dates from a later stage. Let’s isolate that element and have a better look.Even in natural color it does appear better preserved. Maybe that slight overhang above it helped.Is it an anthropomorph with downward sloping horns, or an abstract figure?I’ve heard this site described as if it includes figures in black pigment. I think this area of the panel is what is referred to, and I would agree that yes, it does appear as if there’s black pigment here. Especially right in the middle of this picture, where the geometric shapes seem a little too regular to be natural.A better look using DStretch.Before we go, let’s have a look at the upper left of the main panel. See anything?It looks like there is a rather elaborate segmented “rake” element up here, now much weathered.Here it is. It is unevenly weathered in part because the right-hand part of the rock face gets more run-off from rain than the left does, but I think it also has to do with pigment saturation. If this element was painted by a right-handed person, as it likely was, they probably started with the left side of it and worked their way to the right, otherwise they would risk smudging pigment. I think the lessened load of pigment as the element progressed may also have played a role in how the element weathered.Time to step back and let the boulder be.
Well, that’s it! All that’s left for us to do is to step back down the slope, hop the creek, and return to our vehicle. It was a nice outing on a beautiful day. Hope you enjoyed it too.
