With the prelude [ Perambulation Prelude ] out of the way it is time to put in some serious groundwork and explore this wash in detail. The elements found along the boulders are in many cases beautiful, well-worked and bold. It is worth lingering and not getting overwhelmed by the sheer size of this site, so we’ll take it in little bites.
Let’s get started!
This site is well-known for being extensive – more than a mile of petroglyphs along the volcanic outcropping lining the wash. Here’s a look ahead at the next section, nestled between grasses that sprouted during the brief cool, rainy season, and some Joshua Trees topping the wash.The petroglyphs go right down to the ground on some boulders. In this case the drying grass provides an interesting touch.The panel we just looked at is on the right. Kneeling in front of it made it look bigger than it is!The outcroppings are angled in all directions, so you have to make sure to keep looking back as you walk forward. The panels from the previous two photos are in the bottom right – only a small part of this outcropping.To illustrate – this rock panel is completely hidden in the previous photo, yet it is right in the center of it. It is on the rock face to the right of the panel that bears the two circular elements, to the left of the shadow – right between the flat panel we just saw and the part of the boulder bearing the circular elements. This picture, taken while kneeling down, makes the panel appear huge, but it is actually quite delicate. The elements are small and very lightly pecked. The rows of dots are curious – counting something, or just a design?Several more petroglyph panels on this outcropping. Note how different the style are – many of the petroglyphs are thick and very well-pecked, others are more spindly. Within the thicker petroglyphs we see different shades of revarnishing, even of elements right next to each other, which is extremely interesting.Let’s look at some of the elements in this area of the outcropping in more detail.Starting with the element on the upper center rock face, we see that what looked like two circles joined by a line ( a very common element! ) is actually an element with one circle and an upper crossbar. The pecks on this element are in many cases slightly misdirected, which suggests a hammerstone and chisel approach.The element below it may not look like much at a glance – more misdirected pecks, suggesting it was made at the same time and by the same person as the previous element – but look what a close-up reveals: a much fainter element with similar motif to the left of it. I think that element is not older than the other, just more lightly made and all the desert varnish wasn’t removed when it was pecked, unlike the bolder element where the chisel struck right through to the lighter rock below.On this panel the elements are well-made. The technique of the central element is evident when we look up close: it was made with precise pecks and then the interior was scraped out along the lines to completely remove the varnish. There are several essays pecked into the surrounding rock face: elements started and not finished. Look closely – there is a very faint element showing above it, and it looks like that element was partly obliterated by it. If so, the forceful technique may have been on purpose, to overwrite the older element. There is also a remnant of a Linear element to the left, showing much deeper revarnishing.This is a curious panel: here it looks like the older, darker element overlays the newer! Looking very closely, I don’t think that’s the case. The lighter element does overlap the older in the top right of the partial “8”. It was pecked alongside the original, extending it. The little “arm” to the right of the older element is also a new addition. Finally, notice the spindly scratches that were also overlaid by these two newer elements.Down below we have half of a bisected circle, never finished, and a fizzy circle above it. There appears to be a muddy deposit on this part of the panel.I wonder how deeply buried some of these panels are. This is an active wash, so sand may build up against the rock over time. I leave it as is, not digging down to find out. I do not like to disturb these sites and besides, excavation of protected cultural sites is a serious federal crime.In this case, the depression in front of the panel was made by an animal nesting there for the night. It is small in size – I wonder which little desert denizen chose to make this home for the night.The panel in the background is another that is now partly buried. Here we also see some elements that appear to be partly refreshed ( center ) or modified ( left, where the “fishbone” motif overlays some older element ).The panel off to the side, providing a beautiful backdrop for the grass.This simple Rectilinear element is very, very deeply revarnished. This may point to greater age – or that part of the rock face may have just had more exposure than others and gained a thicker coat of varnish in the same time. We can take a guess at its age relative to the rest of the panel though. It is not in the same style as the newest elements, being pecked and not scraped. So it seems older than those, being more similar to some of the elements that are only pecked.We’ll finish off our detailed look at this small part of the panels with a look at the panel we saw in the background in the first picture. It has several well-pecked elements that look like they were made at the same time. These sinuous elements have a certain grace to them, with uniform, gentle curves. At the bottom, the panel is supported by a squiggle line with a “head” formed by a solid dot, and a small circle just below that.
That’s it for this part of the site! We’ll move on down the wash in the next post. It is a beautiful spring morning in the desert, and the sun is already glaring off the sand in the wash and the varnish on the boulders. Nonetheless, that is what sunglasses an a wide-brimmed hat is for, so off we go, keeping a firm grip on the camera because the next petroglyphs are just around the corner!
