This site is north of a small creek and has pictographs on three different concave cliff faces. The majority of elements are on a south-facing cliff, while the rest are on two side walls of a small alcove.
Detailed view of a single handprint.
The same handprint with DStretch.
All the elements at the site are either handprints or dots.
Unlike some other sites, where handprints are painted, these handprints have clearly been made by an individual or individuals who pressed a pigment-covered hand against the stone.
The handprints all appear to be made by the right hand — a conclusion supported by the location of the thumbprints and the slight left-to-right tilt of the prints – similar to how your right hand naturally orients itself if you hold it out in front of you at shoulder height.
Another handprint on a smoother part of the stone.
A DStretch enhancement shows the gap at the palm.
Additionally, several of the handprints display a palm area free of any pigment, which is a characteristic of pressing the hand lightly against a surface, since the natural hollow in the palm will never come into contact with the rock.
The hands are quite uniform in size and general appearance, suggesting that they may have been made by perhaps two or three persons, as opposed to each belonging to a different person. It does not appear that all the handprints come from just a single person, though, since a close examination shows variation between some of the handprints.
For instance, it all seems as if the two prints shown above may have been made by different persons since the ratio between palm size and finger length varies slightly, and the palm of one appears to be broader in relation to the overall shape than the other.
An overview picture of the site. One of the alcove panels is in the background. The individual prints shown previously are both from the main panel.
There are several other sheer cliff faces in the vicinity, so it is not immediately obvious why this particular location was chosen.
No evidence exist of habitation sites in the nearby area, so the site may have been ritualistic in nature. It does command a good view of the area below, including several creeks and distant hills and mountains.
Another view of the main panel shows additional elements above and to the right of the handprints.
The upper pattern.
A close examination of the main cliff face shows some additional details above and to the right of the set of hand prints.
A DStretch enhancement of the photograph showing the flecks of pigment reveals a deliberate pattern of dots, spaced out in two rows.
It also appears that some of the natural indentations in the rock face were deliberately filled with pigment. These spaces are well above head height, so the design may have been made from some sort of support, or the ground may have eroded away over the years.
DStretch shows two curved lines of dots above the handprints.
A solo handprint.
To the east of these handprints ( to the right when facing the panel ) there is an alcove between this boulder and the next, and on the side of the next boulder is a single handprint.
The handprint is between shoulder and waist height for most people.
There are also two indistinct spots of possible pigment on the side of the boulder facing the single handprint. These may have been part of a large design or designs at some point, but what this may have been is impossible to make out even with DStretch.
Including the single handprint on the boulder, I count 24 handprints at the site, though some are very faded and open to interpretation.
A DStretch rendering of the group of handprints shows nearly two dozen handprints. How many do you count?
This site is in an exposed area – in fact, the cliff face is plainly visible from a well-travelled road that runs within several hundred feet of the site. Road traffic is too far away to actually make out the pictographs themselves, but nonetheless, the site can be clearly seen.
Despite its proximity to development, the site has happily survived intact, with no sign of vandalism.
If you do visit, please respect the pristine nature of this site, and leave it as you found it. In particular, remember that pictographs are fragile and that your touch can easily wear away pigment or deposit damaging skin oils. It may be tempting to fit your hand over one of the handprints, but please refrain from doing so to preserve the integrity of these prints.