Coso Rock Art District is a rock art site containing over 100,000

Petroglyphs A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

by Paleo-Indians and/or Native Americans. The district is located near the towns of

China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake is a United States military facility in California. China Lake may also refer to: Places in the United States *China Lake, Kern County, California, an unincorporated community named for a nearby dry lake * Ch ...

and

Ridgecrest, California Ridgecrest is a city in Kern County, California, United States, along U.S. Route 395 in California, U.S. Route 395 in the Indian Wells Valley in northeastern Kern County, adjacent to the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake (NAWS, or China Lak ...

. Big and Little Petroglyph Canyons were declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1964. In 2001, they were incorporated into this larger

National Historic Landmark District National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

. There are several other distinct canyons in the Coso Rock Art District besides the Big and Little Petroglyph Canyons. Also known as Little Petroglyph Canyon and Sand Tanks, Renegade Canyon is but one of several major canyons in the Coso Range, each hosting thousands of petroglyphs (other locations include Haiwee Springs, Dead End Canyon, and Sheep Canyon). The majority of the Coso Range images fall into one of six categories:

bighorn sheep The bighorn sheep (''Ovis canadensis'') is a species of sheep native to North America. It is named for its large horns. A pair of horns might weigh up to ; the sheep typically weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates three distinct subspec ...

, entopic images, anthropomorphic or human-like figures (including animal-human figures known as pattern-bodied anthopomorphs), other animals, weapons & tools, and "medicine bag" images. Most of the Coso Range is on the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, where visitation is restricted, vandalism is low, and preservation is most likely. The Coso Range is between the Sierra Nevada and the

Argus Range The Argus Range is a mountain range located in Inyo County, California, southeast of the town of Darwin. The range forms the western boundary of Panamint Valley, and the northwestern boundary of Searles Valley. The Coso Range is located to the w ...

Indian Wells Valley Indian Wells Valley is an arid north-south basin in east-central California. In the geologic sense, it is a southern extension of Owens Valley to the north, with the recent volcanics of the Coso Range being the separator. It is defined by a maj ...

lies to the south of this location. This north-south trending range of about consists of rhyolitic domes and outcrops of

volcanic rock Volcanic rock (often shortened to volcanics in scientific contexts) is a rock formed from lava erupted from a volcano. In other words, it differs from other igneous rock by being of volcanic origin. Like all rock types, the concept of volcanic ...

. The most popular subjects are bighorn sheep, deer, and antelope. A November 2007 ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

Travel feature article includes it within a top 15 list of California places to visit. The area was also mentioned in

Groupon Groupon is an American global e-commerce marketplace connecting subscribers with local merchants by offering activities, travel, goods and services in 13 countries. Based in Chicago, Groupon was launched there in November 2008, launching soon af ...

's "10 Most Unique Autumn Festivals in the Country" as a part of the Ridgecrest Petroglyph Festival.

Prehistory detail

According to that article: "No one knows for sure who decorated Little Petroglyph Canyon with images out of a dreamscape, some thought to be more than 10,000 years old. Or why the basalt walls of a narrow wash in the bone-dry Coso Mountains at the northern edge of the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily ...

became a magic canvas for flocks of

, hunters with bows and arrows poised and more. But the area is probably the richest

Amerindian The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the A ...

Petroglyph / rock-art site in the

Western hemisphere The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the antimeridian. The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Politically, the te ...

. To see the canyon, one must contact either the Navy Base, or join a scheduled tour offered by

Maturango Museum Maturango Museum is located in Ridgecrest, California. The museum is best known for the guided tours of the Coso Rock Art District located on China Lake Naval Weapons Station. The museum offers exhibits and displays featuring both the natural ...

or attend a Rock Art 101 program. A 40-mile drive on paved road except for the last 6 miles to access the

trailhead A trailhead is the point at which a trail begins, where the trail is often intended for hiking, biking, horseback riding, or off-road vehicles. Modern trailheads often contain rest rooms, maps, sign posts and distribution centers for information ...

, followed by a hike and a scramble along the canyon. Visits are scheduled only in the spring and fall." There is considerable archaeological evidence substantiating trade between the Coso People, possibly of the Northern Utoaztecan affiliation

Paiute Paiute (; also Piute) refers to three non-contiguous groups of indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, these three groups do not form a single set. The term "Paiu ...

tribe, and other

Indigenous peoples of the Americas The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the A ...

and Native American tribes. For example, distant trade with the

Chumash Chumash may refer to: *Chumash (Judaism), a Hebrew word for the Pentateuch, used in Judaism *Chumash people, a Native American people of southern California *Chumashan languages, indigenous languages of California See also *Chumash traditional n ...

People is confirmed by archaeological recovery from coastal California sites in

San Luis Obispo County San Luis Obispo County (), officially the County of San Luis Obispo, is a county on the Central Coast of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 282,424. The county seat is San Luis Obispo. Junípero Serra founded the Miss ...

and in prehistoric sites on the Channel Islands.C.Michael Hogan (2008) ''Morro Creek'', The Megalithic Portal, ed. by A. Burnha

/ref>

References

*Whitley, David S.
By the Hunter, for the Gatherer: Art, Social Relations and Subsistence Change in the Prehistoric Great Basin
. ''World Archaeology'' 25.3 (1994): 356-373. *Garfinkel, Alan P. 1978 "Coso" Style Pictographs of the Southern Sierra Nevada. Journal of California Anthropology 5(1):94-101. [Reports on two sites in Indian Wells Canyon with painted images similar to the Coso Representational bighorn images. Concludes that these are the product of historic activities of the Kawaiisu and/or Panamint Shoshone and likely do not show cultural continuity but are probably evidence of the historic copying of more ancient imagery.] *1980 A Cultural Resource Management Plan for the Fossil Falls/Little Lake Locality. U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Cultural Resources Publications, Archaeology. Bakersfield, 1980. Reprinted by Coyote Press, Salinas, California. Available on-line at: http://www.blm.gov/heritage/adventures/research/StatePages/PDFs/California/little%20lake.pdf *2003 Dating "Classic" Coso Style Sheep Petroglyphs in the Coso Range and El Paso Mountains: Implications for Regional Prehistory. Society for California Archaeology Newsletter 37(4):34-37. *2005 Comment on Clarus Backes' "More Than Meets the Eye: Fluorescence Photography for Enhanced Analysis of Pictographs." Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology 26(2):95-99. R *2006 Paradigm Shifts, Rock Art Theory, and the Coso Sheep Cult of Eastern California. North American Archaeologist 27(3):203-244. [Evaluation of hunting magic model versus individual shamanism as the primary function for the imagery represented in the Coso Representational Style petroglyph complex in the Coso Range of eastern California.] *2007 Archaeology and Rock Art in the Eastern Sierra and Great Basin Frontier. Maturango Museum Publication Number 22. Maturango Museum, Ridgecrest. [Lightly edited version of Garfinkel's Ph.D. dissertation. First detailed synthesis of far southern Sierra and eastern California prehistory. Focuses on ethnic identification of archaeological patterns and the timing and explanation of hypothesized prehistoric population movements based on linguistic prehistory.] *Documentary film, Talking Stone: Rock Art of the Cosos, http://www.talkingstonefilm.com *Garfinkel, Alan and Don Austin 2011 Reproductive Symbolism in Great Basin Rock Art: Bighorn Sheep Hunting, Fertility, and Forager Ideology. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 21(3):453-471. *Garfinkel, Alan P., Donald R. Austin, David Earle, and Harold Williams 2009 Myth, Ritual and Rock Art: Coso Decorated Animal-Humans and the Animal Master. Rock Art Research 26(2). he Journal of the Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA)and of the International Federation of Rock Art Organization (IFRAO)*Garfinkel, Alan P., Geron Marcom, and Robert A. Schiffman 2007 Culture Crisis and Rock Art Intensification: Numic Ghost Dance Paintings and Coso Representational Petroglyphs. American Indian Rock Art Volume 33, Don Christensen and Peggy Whitehead, editors, p. 83-103. American Rock Art Research Association, Tucson, Arizona. Enhanced on-line version available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20130506092308/http://www.petroglyphs.us/article_culture_crisis_and_rock_art_intensification.htm *Garfinkel, Alan P. and J. Kenneth Pringle Dating the Rock Drawings of the Coso Range: Projectile Point Petroglyphs in American Indian Rock Art Volume 30, James T. O'Connor, editor, pp. 1–14. Tucson: American Rock Art Research Association. R, A, I Enhanced on-line version available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20040829010143/http://petroglyphs.us/article_dating_coso_projectile_point_petroglyphs.htm [Documents petroglyphs in the Coso Range with associated images of dart or arrow points and argues that they most likely represent Elko and Humboldt Basal Notched forms dating the glyphs to a time from calibrated 2000 BC to AD 1. ] *Garfinkel, Alan P., David A. Young, and Robert M. Yohe, II 2010 Bighorn Hunting, Resource Depression, and Rock Art in the Coso Range of Eastern California: A Computer Simulation Model. Journal of Archaeological Science 37:42-51.

External links

Talking Stone - Rock Art of the Cosos Documentary FilmMaturango Museum website
— ''offers Coso Rock Art tours''.
Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake.mil: Visiting the Coso petroglyphs

Petroglyphs Tour Info

*Maturango Museum, 100 E. Las Flores Ave., Ridgecrest, CA 93555; (760) 375-6900, http://www.maturango.or

*Naval Air Weapons Station, (760) 939-1683. *California Rock Art Foundation (805) 312-2261, http://www.californiarockart.org *Rock Art 101 Program, http://www.rockart101.org {{coord missing, California Petroglyphs in California Coso Native American history of California History of Inyo County, California History of the Mojave Desert region National Historic Landmarks in California Protected areas of Inyo County, California Protected areas of the Mojave Desert Ridgecrest, California Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in California National Register of Historic Places in Inyo County, California

Prehistory detail

See also

References

Further reading

External links

Petroglyphs Tour Info