Mockingbird Canyon Rock Art

Mockingbird Canyon is a former Luiseno habitation site in Riverside County. The site contains pictographs, a "yoni" (that I didn't see), several morteros, and a "Shaman's Cave. It also has a solstice component. Unfortunately, it was unprotected for decades, and every idiot in the area with a can of spray paint seems to have left their mark there.

A nice boulder pile near the site.

Much of this site is overgrown with plants that you wouldn't want to walk through wearing shorts. Of course, I was wearing shorts. The scabs should be gone in a few more days. On the other side of these rocks...

were these mortars.

There was supposed to be some pictographs very close to the mortars. I found nothing that stood out, and thought they might have totally deteriorated.

When I got home, I enlarged my photos looking for any traces of the pictographs. In the vertical orange streaks, I saw a couple of tiny red lines.

When I used DStretch to enhance the colors, some pictographs were revealed. Maybe some of you will recognize (from several prior posts here) the diamond shaped chains, that are part of female puberty initiate rites. If you have the time or inclination, go Here and Here and Here.

There are also several more mortars along this pretty stream, that is adjacent to the village site. I searched several boulder jumbles on the other side, but found nothing of note.

Back on this side of the stream, this rock seemed a likely spot for some pictographs.

Except for the fact that it was covered with graffiti. I HATE that people do this. The penalty should be much harsher than it is now (which is almost nothing).

I used DStretch and all available color variations to try to find something.

Look just to the right of the vertical red streak in the middle. It sure caught my eye!

Ta-Dah! Those are definitely pictographs (in the middle). Red vertical and horizontal shapes  falling down to a horizontal design. A little lower, you can see some "zig-zag" shapes in red.

The little spot of blue in the middle, is the "Solstice" component. Apparently, during one of the equinox events that take place every year, light shines through that hole and onto a particular spot or symbol. When that happens, it marks the beginning of change in season.

Below the opening, is the "Shaman's Cave." That is where the good stuff is.

It was quickly apparent, that this wasn't the actual opening, but I could still see some white pictographs on the roof.

This "DStretch" enhanced photo came out pretty good, considering my long lens. I climbed back down, and walked around to the other side to see what I hoped was the actual entrance into the cave.

This (and the  next four photos)  are the ceiling above the actual opening and cave. 

When I finally got to these fantastic pictographs. I couldn't get far enough away from them, to take anything but photos of small areas. I believe that this is a solstice site. However, when I look at the designs in the last two photos,  I see fish, and I see fish nets!

On the top of this big flat rock, I thought I saw petroglyphs. Nope! Graffiti!

Part #1 - Every Long Hike Should Pay Off Like This One Did

Just like the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, a recent long hike ended with an amazing reward. 

Several days ago, a friend invited me to do a long hike with him to a place he had just found in the desert. Ignoring my doctor's advice (to do nothing strenuous for six months), I of course accepted. 

This site was so amazing, and so pristine, that I will not be uttering either a name, or location relating to it. After several miles (uphill, I might add), we spotted some large rock formations that were not visible during the entire hike.

We climbed one of the rock piles and then dropped down into a hole. What I saw not only rendered me speechless, it also took my breath away. 

 The thing that blew my mind is the circle of rocks, that is just right of center, at the bottom.

At first sight most people would think that it's a fire ring. They wouldn't notice that many of the stones were placed in a vertical fashion, rather than just being stacked. They also wouldn't think much of the grassy dried vegetation at the bottom (probably a rat nest), or the branch leaning against the inside of it. 

This isn't a fire ring at all. It is an "Olla Nest." The branch (what is left of it) is a "Spirit Stick" and the grass is there to make sure the "Olla" sits on something soft. So what is an Olla?

The large piece of pottery standing next to this lady (her name is Rose), is an Olla.

CREDIT: San Diego History Center

An olla is a large piece of pottery used to store water or food. Because it was high up in the rocks, I'm thinking it was probably used to store food, rather that water. Just a thought. The olla was gone, but that didn't matter. It was awesome just to see the nest.

This little spot was in amazing enough in it's own right, but there is much more!

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We went up another pile of rocks and once again, had to drop down into an opening.

I apologize about this terribly blurry photo All I can see after dropping into the hole, is another Spirit Stick, leaning up against the rocks. When I got closer I saw...

...that the Spirit Stick was standing right next to a whole Olla. At least it was a whole Olla when it was left there.  Unfortunately, either a rock fell on it, or it just fell apart on its own. Maybe if it had been in a nest! You can't really tell from this photo, but those shards are as large as my hand with spread fingers. Some of them are buried and/or partially buried.  There were also two more Spirit Sticks in there, but somehow I didn't get a photo of them. I don't know exactly how old these two sites are, but they are very old...

My friend knew how much I would love seeing these sites. He was right and I really appreciated it. There aren't very many people who like this stuff as much as we do. There are some of course, but it's a relatively small group.

Part #2 will be posted soon. So much more to see...


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Terese Habitation Site - El Paso Mountains

I've posted a lot of photos from my trips to various Indian habitation and rock art sites. This spot, called Terese, doesn't have fancy pictographs, caves, or rock shelters, but it still just might be my favorite of them all. It wasn't discovered until the late 1990's and is just about as pristine as can be. It is also very large (I've yet to see all of it).  

The great places are usually hard to get to and this one is no exception. Folks, don't try this road in your car or mini-van.

A kitchen with all the built-ins. A mortar, a slick and a metate. It's the trifecta of milling stones. All we're missing is a Cuyamaca Oval. There even looks to be a few cupules.

 Another large, but broken milling stone. 

There were many sleeping circles in the area. The next several were all in the same area. 

Finally to the pictographs. This was my favorite of the day. The largest image appears to by a mountain lion, or maybe a coyote.

The large image is a Coso style Bighorn Sheep. Based on that and what appears to be an "Atlatl" in the right lower corner. These petroglyphs are likely to be from 1000 to about 2500 years old (plus or minus). The atlatl was a dart/arrow "launching device" that pre-dates the bow and arrow. This site is also thought to be the most southern known location of the Coso style rock art.

I believe the symbol in the middle represents a medicine bag or pouch.  

We didn't get to see a lot of the site, because it was getting dark.  Next time...

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