Bernasconi Pass Petroglyph and Luiseno Creation Story

This very interesting petroglyph sits in Bernasconi Pass in Riverside County. It has not been dated, but Indians have been in this area for thousands of years.  Luiseno creation lore says that the symbols on this rock represents Tukmit (the first man) and Tomayowit (the first woman). When the hollow part on top of the rock fills with water, it flows from one depression into another representing the male, and then into the lower representing the female. Then it flows through the female symbol to the ground. This is how the people, the land, the plants, and animals were created. 

Following creation, their first born children were sent to the four corners of the of the earth. Tomayowit lay down and become the Earth Mother. Tukmit rose above it all to become Father Sky. 

Although information relating to most petroglyphs no longer exits, it is fantastic that we still have sites like this one. This spot is included in a no trespassing zone adjacent to a dam, and I was fortunate to be allowed to see it. The stone was moved down the pass to this spot about 60 years ago to save it from seemingly ever present bulldozers.

The back side gives no clues. 

 A view of the symbols.

 I used DStretch only to highlight the symbols. You can more clearly see the path of the water passing from the male through the female symbol (yoni).

A little scenery

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There may or may not have been more petroglyphs further up the pass. If there was, they might have been destroyed when the road and dam were built. 

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Alister's Cave Rock Art - Joshua Tree National Park

First off, Alister's Cave isn't actually a cave, it's an alcove, under an overhang, on the side of a cliff. It's probably one of the more well known "secret" rock art sites in the park. Having said that, the number of people who have either seen it, or heard about it, is minuscule. Most of the people who do know about it, are rock climbers and they pretty much ignore it. I'm happy to report, that there appears to be zero vandalism done to the site over the many decades that I've known about it. The main problem with the site is the degradation of the pictographs due to weathering and the natural decomposition of the granite surface. There are also a few faint petroglyphs on a portion of the floor. 

please embiggen this one

This photo and the next, may or may not be in the same area as Alister's Cave. 

Nothing to do with rock art, but it is in the area and is a beautiful example of a California Barrel Cactus

An alcove under an overhang on the side of a cliff. It's pretty tough sledding through all the boulders and vegetation snarls to get to a climbable spot. This isn't that spot...

As you can see, the pictographs are very faint. That is very unfortunate because there are a ton of them here in many layers. 

An enhanced (via DStretch) version of the photo above. Still not too good.

Another example of how faded most of the pictos are

Enhanced version of the previous photo

As viewed by me

Enhanced 

As viewed

Enhanced by DStretch. I recognize a few of them. There is a Yoni or atlatl in the upper right hand corner. There also appears to be a flying saucer in the middle of the photo. Nah!

A closer photo of the flying saucer looking symbol

Some visible black pictographs 

Enhanced version. At the top center, there appears to be a anthropomorphic symbol. The symbols that look like brooms are likely representing rain. 

This panel is pretty much invisible to the naked eye

Thanks to DStretch, we can at least see what is left of the pictos in that spot

Once again, very hard to see. It does look like there are some very faded reddish, white and black symbols.

This enhanced version of the previous photo, reflects exactly why DStretch is so amazing...  The large white image to the upper left is clearly anthropomorphic (human, or human like). The red symbol in the center might be an atlatl (spear or arrow thrower). The appearance of an atlatl indicates that at least some of these symbols are VERY old, because the atlatl was used to "throw" arrows, darts and spears before the appearance of the "bow" in this part of the country.

In the next two photos, you will be able to see, that there are old pictographs drawn over older pictographs. 

Enhancement #1 is concentrated on the dark pigments

Enhancement #2 is concentrated on the red pigments. Old on top of old, on top of older.

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