Remnants of Ancient Peoples

Quick note: This is part 3 of a series of posts on my trip to the wilderness. If you are seeing this for the first time, it’d be worthwhile to scroll down and read Mustangs and Watering Hole first. Thanks for stopping by!

I came here looking for specific things. I found them all with the exception of the tool-making sites strewn with obsidian. I’m guessing they’re higher on the ridges overlooking the valley. On a future visit, I’ll seek them out. It’s particularly interesting because the obsidian tools from this region have been discovered as far west as the Channel Islands.

But I did find petroglyphs and mortars!

This was by far the most impressive panel with a commanding position over the dry streambed

Classic boat-shaped bighorn petroglyph

This was an outlier from the standard bighorn etchings. Mountain lion?

Mortar - The people processed pine nuts from pinons here. This would have been a streamside boulder in wetter centuries and a pleasant place to work. The rock kind of looks like a whale!

Hand petroglyph

The path of a thousand miles begins with a single step

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