Alan Garfinkel | California State University, Bakersfield (original) (raw)

Books by Alan Garfinkel

Research paper thumbnail of KEYWORDS: Animal ceremonialism -Bighorn sheep ritual -Native American religion THE GREEN RIVER BIGHORN SHEEP HORNED HEADDRESS, SAN RAFAEL SWELL, UTAH

Rock Art Research, 2019

A bighorn sheep horned headdress discovered near the Green River, in eastern Utah within the Unit... more A bighorn sheep horned headdress discovered near the Green River, in eastern Utah within the United States is reviewed. Its history, discovery and subsequent analysis is described. It appears to have been a powerful headpiece employed in a symbolic context for religious expression, perhaps worn by a ritualist in association with the hunt for large game animals (bighorn sheep, antelope or deer). It was likely associated with the Fremont Cultural Tradition, as it was dated by radiocarbon assay to a calibrated, calendar age of 1020-1160 CE and was further adorned with six Olivella biplicata shell beads (split-punched type) originating from the California coast that apparently date to that same general time frame. Such head-dresses are mentioned in the ethnographic literature for several Great Basin and American Southwestern indigenous cultures and appear to have been used in various religious rituals. Bighorn sheep horned headdresses can be fashioned directly from the horns of a bighorn sheep and can be functionally fashioned as a garment to be worn on the head without excessive weight and with little difficulty to the wearer. Ethnographic data testifies that the bighorn sheep was applied as a cultural symbol and was employed as a 'visual prayer' relating to the cosmic regeneration of life (e.g. good health, successful human reproduction, sufficient rain and water, and ample natural resource [i.e. animal and plant] fertility).

Research paper thumbnail of CONTRIBUTIONS TO TULARE LAKE ARCHAEOLOGY VII UNIQUE TOOLS AND WIDESTEM POINTS FROM THE TULARE LAKE REGION

Research paper thumbnail of Ghost Dancing Whirlwind.pdf

The Whirlwind is a Ghost Dancing: Reflections the Mirror Point Site, Searles Lake, Western Mojav... more The Whirlwind is a Ghost Dancing: Reflections the Mirror Point Site, Searles Lake, Western Mojave Desert, Eastern California.

A concentration of over 100 rock cairns exists on the edge of a dry lake. Why? This article contains speculations relating to the cosmological metaphors and religious symbolism of the historic and prehistoric inhabitants of the region who were Numic and Archaic Utoaztecan speakers.

Research paper thumbnail of Handbook of the Kawaiisu

Overview on the people, material culture, contemporary exposition, and traditional lifeways of th... more Overview on the people, material culture, contemporary exposition, and traditional lifeways of the people who inhabit the Tehachapi Mountains and western Mojave Desert.

Richly illustrated and extensively referenced. Winner of the California Governor's Award for Historic Preservation.

Research paper thumbnail of Handbook of the Kawaiisu

Research paper thumbnail of California Archaeology Fluted and Basally Thinned Concave-Base Points of Obsidian in the Borden Collection from Inyo County, Alta California: Age and Significance

This article describes, classifies, and provides the calculated ages of 14 basally thinned and fl... more This article describes, classifies, and provides the calculated ages of 14 basally thinned and fluted points of obsidian in the Borden collection from Rose Valley in southern Inyo County, California. With the exception of one item of Fish Springs obsidian, the specimens are all made of glass from geologic subsources in the Coso Volcanic Field. Typologically, the fragmentary and reworked artifacts appear to represent Clovis, or perhaps Clovis-derived, concave-base lanceolate points. Obsidian hydration measurements permit age calculations that range between approximately 13,793 and 11,308 calendar years ago. The calculated ages of the Borden artifacts are consistent with their discovery on landforms associated with Younger Dryas and very early Holocene wetlands. Our research results also suggest that Clovis technology may have persisted longer in California than it did in the southeastern, central, and southwestern United States.

Research paper thumbnail of California Archaeology Fluted and Basally Thinned Concave-Base Points of Obsidian in the Borden Collection from Inyo County, Alta California: Age and Significance

This article describes, classifies, and provides the calculated ages of 14 basally thinned and fl... more This article describes, classifies, and provides the calculated ages of 14 basally thinned and fluted points of obsidian in the Borden collection from Rose Valley in southern Inyo County, California. With the exception of one item of Fish Springs obsidian, the specimens are all made of glass from geologic subsources in the Coso Volcanic Field. Typologically, the fragmentary and reworked artifacts appear to represent Clovis, or perhaps Clovis-derived, concave-base lanceolate points. Obsidian hydration measurements permit age calculations that range between approximately 13,793 and 11,308 calendar years ago. The calculated ages of the Borden artifacts are consistent with their discovery on landforms associated with Younger Dryas and very early Holocene wetlands. Our research results also suggest that Clovis technology may have persisted longer in California than it did in the southeastern, central, and southwestern United States.

Research paper thumbnail of Berlin's Ethnological Museum: The California Indian Collection

The Ethnologisches Museum: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (formerly the Museum für Völkerkunde, and ... more The Ethnologisches Museum: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (formerly the Museum für Völkerkunde, and referred to here as the Berlin Ethnological Museum) contains over 1,000 artifacts fashioned by California Indians, collected between 1837 and 1914. The collection is rich and varied; it represents one of the earliest ethnographic collections from Native California and includes ethnological treasures of great aesthetic quality and rarity. The collection is an invaluable source of scientific information and cultural renewal. The objects are highly regarded by living descendants of the Native Californians who long ago sold, traded, and exchanged these artifacts with collectors. They are heirlooms reflecting tribal history and culture, and are worthy of remembrance and study. In this paper we offer first-hand observations on a small sample (n =10) of the Berlin Ethnological Museum's California Indian collection, with a particular emphasis on baskets. We describe and discuss these objects in detail in order to bring to life the people and cultures that brilliantly produced such exquisite, artistic objects and ethnographic treasures. We also attempt to identify their historical context and the circumstances motivating their collection, so as to better understand how they came to be curated in Berlin. Finally, we provide a brief overview of the history and development of the Berlin Ethnological Museum's California Indian collection, because the intriguing interconnections and influential coincidences associated with it provide insights into the history and nature of the early development of California Indian studies and particularly illuminate the evolution of the science of anthropology as an academic discipline in America.

Research paper thumbnail of Berlin's Ethnological Museum: The California Indian Collection

The Ethnologisches Museum: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (formerly the Museum für Völkerkunde, and ... more The Ethnologisches Museum: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (formerly the Museum für Völkerkunde, and referred to here as the Berlin Ethnological Museum) contains over 1,000 artifacts fashioned by California Indians, collected between 1837 and 1914. The collection is rich and varied; it represents one of the earliest ethnographic collections from Native California and includes ethnological treasures of great aesthetic quality and rarity. The collection is an invaluable source of scientific information and cultural renewal. The objects are highly regarded by living descendants of the Native Californians who long ago sold, traded, and exchanged these artifacts with collectors. They are heirlooms reflecting tribal history and culture, and are worthy of remembrance and study. In this paper we offer first-hand observations on a small sample (n =10) of the Berlin Ethnological Museum's California Indian collection, with a particular emphasis on baskets. We describe and discuss these objects in detail in order to bring to life the people and cultures that brilliantly produced such exquisite, artistic objects and ethnographic treasures. We also attempt to identify their historical context and the circumstances motivating their collection, so as to better understand how they came to be curated in Berlin. Finally, we provide a brief overview of the history and development of the Berlin Ethnological Museum's California Indian collection, because the intriguing interconnections and influential coincidences associated with it provide insights into the history and nature of the early development of California Indian studies and particularly illuminate the evolution of the science of anthropology as an academic discipline in America.

Research paper thumbnail of Berlin's Ethnological Museum: The California Indian Collection

The Ethnologisches Museum: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (formerly the Museum für Völkerkunde, and ... more The Ethnologisches Museum: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (formerly the Museum für Völkerkunde, and referred to here as the Berlin Ethnological Museum) contains over 1,000 artifacts fashioned by California Indians, collected between 1837 and 1914. The collection is rich and varied; it represents one of the earliest ethnographic collections from Native California and includes ethnological treasures of great aesthetic quality and rarity. The collection is an invaluable source of scientific information and cultural renewal. The objects are highly regarded by living descendants of the Native Californians who long ago sold, traded, and exchanged these artifacts with collectors. They are heirlooms reflecting tribal history and culture, and are worthy of remembrance and study. In this paper we offer first-hand observations on a small sample (n =10) of the Berlin Ethnological Museum's California Indian collection, with a particular emphasis on baskets. We describe and discuss these objects in detail in order to bring to life the people and cultures that brilliantly produced such exquisite, artistic objects and ethnographic treasures. We also attempt to identify their historical context and the circumstances motivating their collection, so as to better understand how they came to be curated in Berlin. Finally, we provide a brief overview of the history and development of the Berlin Ethnological Museum's California Indian collection, because the intriguing interconnections and influential coincidences associated with it provide insights into the history and nature of the early development of California Indian studies and particularly illuminate the evolution of the science of anthropology as an academic discipline in America.

Research paper thumbnail of Prehistory of Kern County:  Cultural Resource Overview

This overview of the history , prehistory and ethnology of Kern County provides a synthesis on th... more This overview of the history , prehistory and ethnology of Kern County provides a synthesis on the Native people, their traditional lifeways, the archaeological record and related scientific studies. It also includes a discussion on the environment of the region. Finally, it provides a number of management recommendations for preserving, protecting and enhancing the cultural resources of the county.

Research paper thumbnail of PROJECTILE POINT PETROGLYPHS OF THE COSO RANGE: CHRONOLOGY AND FUNCTION  2017

The Coso Range is recognized as having the greatest concentration of prehistoric rock drawings in... more The Coso Range is recognized as having the greatest concentration of prehistoric rock drawings in the Western Hemisphere. One class of images are animal-human figures with projectile points. Recent research reveals that there are more of these images than originally identified. Experimental X-ray fluorescence and morphological assessment provide an estimate of their age. Close study allows us to posit working hypotheses regarding their nature and function. It is suggested that these figures are principally associated with reproductive symbolism – fertility of the earth and human fecundity.

Research paper thumbnail of Ancient Stones of Black Glass: Tracing and Dating Paleoindian Obsidian Artifacts: pp. 52-98

Archaeological sites within the Great Basin and California appear to demonstrate that human occup... more Archaeological sites within the Great
Basin and California appear to demonstrate that
human occupation occurred in late Pleistocene
and early Holocene times from ca. 12,000 to
6,000 B.C. A prominent locality for Paleoindian
material is Lake China. Thousands of artifacts
dot the fossil shoreline on the desert floor of eastern
Kern County at the interface of the Mojave
Desert and the Great Basin near Ridgecrest
(Davis 1978).
In Central California, projectile points hypothesized
to date from these periods have been
discovered in abundance at the Witt locality (CA-Kin-
32) on the southwest margins of Tulare Lake
in Kings County in the southern San Joaquin Valley
(Dillon 2002, Moratto 2000; Riddell and
Olsen 1969; Wallace 1991). Some of these artifacts
are basally thinned, Concave Base points
(over 500). These projectiles are similar to Clovis
points but are often smaller, somewhat thinner,
are pressure rather than percussion flaked, and,
most often, lack the distinguishing flutes (Rondeau
2005a, 2005b; Rondeau et al. 2007; Wallace
1991; West et al. 1991). The range of variation
for these points, typically assigned to the
Great Basin Concave Base Series, has not been
clearly defined. The Tulare Lake points appear to
be a local variant of this same tradition.
Until recently, no direct dates for the flaked
stone materials found at either locality have been
published (yet, see Basgall 2003, 2005a, 2005b).
An indirect means of obtaining such temporal parameters
is the use of obsidian tracing and hydration
dating. Thirty-eight (38) artifacts from
China (n = 5) and Tulare (n = 33) Lakes were
chemically characterized to source and analyzed
for their hydration measurements. Results of
these studies indicate that obsidian hydration dating
is a useful tool even for very ancient artifacts
of volcanic glass. Obsidian tracing and dating indicate
that Concave Base points are partly contemporaneous
with Clovis age artifacts, although
they have a far lengthier duration dating from ca.
13,500 to 10,000 years cal before present (BP).
Great Basin Stemmed Series points are of more recent
age dating from ca. 11,000 to 7,000 years
cal BP. Eccentric crescents are apparently coeval
with both Concave Base and Great Basin
Stemmed Series points and have a lengthy temporal
span from 13,500 to 7,000 years cal BP.
Tracing studies of the early obsidian implements
from Tulare Lake, in this study, indicate
that Concave Base tradition foragers were far
more mobile than the Great Basin Stemmed Series
cultural expression. Obsidian originated from no less
than six (6) different source localities from 100 to
250 miles distant. These late Pleistocene hunter-gatherers
traversed enormous foraging territories
and either directly accessed or traded for volcanic
glass and fused shale from the Napa Valley, Casa

Diablo, Coso, Mount Hicks, Mono Glass Mountain,
Queen, and Grimes Canyon sources. Later,
early Holocene Stemmed Series peoples had a
smaller, more limited foraging radius and more
protracted mobility patterns procuring only Coso
and Casa Diablo volcanic glass sources.

Research paper thumbnail of ICE-AGE STONE TOOLS FROM THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY

The present publication consists of four manuscripts (included as chapters one through four). Ini... more The present publication consists of four
manuscripts (included as chapters one through
four). Initially, six chapters were planned but
two authors could not meet the time constraints.
Hopefully, they will be included in a subsequent
TULARG publication.
Briefly, Chapter 1 surveys and identifies a
flaked stone assemblage of time-diagnostic artifacts
from Tulare Lake. This is the first published
attempt to categorize and describe Tulare
Lake’s Paleoindian tool kit. Chapter 2 presents
the initial attempts at obsidian tracing and hydration
dating of Tulare Lake’s ancient artifacts
as well as providing a small sample from China
Lake in eastern California. Chapter 3 critically
reevaluates the number of reported Clovis-like
projectile point discoveries from Tulare Lake
and finally, Chapter 4 describes a unique ground
stone “butterfly” crescent from the study area
and discusses its possible meaning, function, and
significance.
Tulare Lake, located in California’s southern
San Joaquin Valley midway between the San
Francisco Bay and the Los Angeles Basin, was
formed sometime during the later part of the
Pleistocene epoch and, over millennia, expanded
to cover about 760 square miles before it was
drained and reclaimed for agricultural crops. Artifacts
collected from early shorelines suggest
the lake supported Paleoindian people for a considerable
amount of time before the earliest
Yokuts occupation.

Research paper thumbnail of Cultural Resource Management Plan for the Fossil Falls/Little Lake Locality

The cover figur e depicts a petroglyph in the shape of a bighorn sheep (OVis c anadensis). This r... more The cover figur e depicts a petroglyph in the shape of a bighorn sheep (OVis c anadensis). This rock art style is typical of the Coso Range, fifteen miles north of Fossil Falls.

Research paper thumbnail of Rock Paintings of the Coso Region:  Analysis and Interpretation of the Coso Style

Articles and a synthesis representing a variety of independent researchers attenpting to understa... more Articles and a synthesis representing a variety of independent researchers attenpting to understand a painted rock art form in the southwestern Great Basin. This regional set of rock art data provides basic iinformation and an analysis of Coso Style pictogrpahs. The latter are historic paintings that have elements reminiscent of Coso Representational rock drawings.

Research paper thumbnail of Handbook of the Kawaiisu

Research paper thumbnail of Linguistic Archaeology: Prehistoric Population Movements and Cultural Identity

Scholars posit contrasting models of the ethnic identity and language / population movements of p... more Scholars posit contrasting models of the ethnic identity and language / population movements of prehistoric peoples in the southwestern Great Basin and far southern Sierra Nevada. These models favor either in situ cultural development or population replacement and expansion. Archaeological data from these areas are used in this dissertation to examine past movements of peoples speaking Numic and Tubatulabalic languages and, thereby, to evaluate the models.Seven archaeological studies in the Kern Plateau and Scodie Mountains areas of the Sierra Nevada are reviewed including: 69 archaeological sites; analysis of excavation results from 54 sites; 475 obsidian hydration measurements; and 28 radiocarbon dates.

Additional information (i.e., the dating and character of rock art, mitochondrial DNA analyses, burial patterns, obsidian hydration chronology, toolstone use, dietary patterns, and distribution of time-sensitive artifacts) was gathered from archaeological studies elsewhere in the southwestern Great Basin. All these data were evaluated with regard to whether they support models of cultural continuity or population replacement.In the Kern Plateau interior and the Isabella Basin, archeological evidence favors the hypothesis that the Tubatulabal language and cultural tradition are of long standing.

Archaeological sites show continuous, unbroken occupation from the historic era back 2500 years or more. Distributions of obsidian hydration rim measurements indicate a continuous prehistoric cultural sequence. Dietary patterns also show a consistent emphasis on large game and pine nut use during a span of more than two millenia. The use of one geologic source of volcanic glass and the persistence of a solitary rock art tradition further testify to a single (i.e., Tubatulabalic) cultural expression.

The Sierra Nevada crest and the southwestern Great Basin, in contrast, witnessed significant subsistence-settlement changes at the beginning of the Haiwee Period (ca.A.D. 600). Subsistence changes included: a decline in the hunting of large game; an initial and growing emphasis on dryland hard seeds; the beginning of intensive greencone pinyon pine nut use; and the introduction of specialized sites focusing on the mass harvest of easily procured and abundant small game animals. These variations in hunter-gatherer adaptation may indicate culturally distinct, sequential populations pursuing varying subsistence-settlement strategies rather than an in-situ cultural tradition responding to environmental change. I argue that these subsistence shifts reflect distinctive Numic adaptations.

Archaeological data support the hypothesis that pre-Numic occupations exhibit cultural continuity from the Newberry Period (1500 B.C.- A.D. 600) into the early Haiwee interval (A.D. 600-1000). Later cultural discontinuities support the thesis that Numic groups entered the region early in the Haiwee era, coincident with the introduction of Rose Spring and Eastgate projectile points (ca. A.D. 600). Numic archaeological expressions show marked continuities from the Haiwee Period (A.D. 600-1300) through the Marana interval (A.D. 1300–1850) and into the historic era. The in-migrating Numic
populations most likely produced simple, scratched style rock drawings and later on,during the historic era, Coso Style paintings. In contrast, within the Coso Range, growing evidence now suggests that Coso Representational Style petroglyphs were produced only by pre-Numic groups largelyl
during the late Newberry (500 B.C- A.D. 600) and early Haiwee (A.D.600-1000) periods.

Petroglyph manufacture appears to have ceased abruptly in the midst of peak production and elaboration during the Haiwee Period possibly because of the depletion of the local bighorn sheep herds. Archaeological data and limited mitochondrial DNA studies are also consistent with the idea that Numic populations eventually replaced or absorbed pre-Numic groups. During the late Haiwee era (A.D. 1000-1300) Numic peoples apparently expanded out of
their former heartland and began their migrations northward and to the east, ultimately dispersing throughout most of the Great Basin.

Research paper thumbnail of Bradshaw Foundation Podcast - Interview with Dr. Alan Garfinkel on Coso Rock Art

Papers by Alan Garfinkel

Research paper thumbnail of KEYWORDS: Animal ceremonialism -Bighorn sheep ritual -Native American religion THE GREEN RIVER BIGHORN SHEEP HORNED HEADDRESS, SAN RAFAEL SWELL, UTAH

Rock Art Research, 2019

A bighorn sheep horned headdress discovered near the Green River, in eastern Utah within the Unit... more A bighorn sheep horned headdress discovered near the Green River, in eastern Utah within the United States is reviewed. Its history, discovery and subsequent analysis is described. It appears to have been a powerful headpiece employed in a symbolic context for religious expression, perhaps worn by a ritualist in association with the hunt for large game animals (bighorn sheep, antelope or deer). It was likely associated with the Fremont Cultural Tradition, as it was dated by radiocarbon assay to a calibrated, calendar age of 1020-1160 CE and was further adorned with six Olivella biplicata shell beads (split-punched type) originating from the California coast that apparently date to that same general time frame. Such head-dresses are mentioned in the ethnographic literature for several Great Basin and American Southwestern indigenous cultures and appear to have been used in various religious rituals. Bighorn sheep horned headdresses can be fashioned directly from the horns of a bighorn sheep and can be functionally fashioned as a garment to be worn on the head without excessive weight and with little difficulty to the wearer. Ethnographic data testifies that the bighorn sheep was applied as a cultural symbol and was employed as a 'visual prayer' relating to the cosmic regeneration of life (e.g. good health, successful human reproduction, sufficient rain and water, and ample natural resource [i.e. animal and plant] fertility).

Research paper thumbnail of KEYWORDS: Animal ceremonialism -Bighorn sheep ritual -Native American religion THE GREEN RIVER BIGHORN SHEEP HORNED HEADDRESS, SAN RAFAEL SWELL, UTAH

Rock Art Research, 2019

A bighorn sheep horned headdress discovered near the Green River, in eastern Utah within the Unit... more A bighorn sheep horned headdress discovered near the Green River, in eastern Utah within the United States is reviewed. Its history, discovery and subsequent analysis is described. It appears to have been a powerful headpiece employed in a symbolic context for religious expression, perhaps worn by a ritualist in association with the hunt for large game animals (bighorn sheep, antelope or deer). It was likely associated with the Fremont Cultural Tradition, as it was dated by radiocarbon assay to a calibrated, calendar age of 1020-1160 CE and was further adorned with six Olivella biplicata shell beads (split-punched type) originating from the California coast that apparently date to that same general time frame. Such head-dresses are mentioned in the ethnographic literature for several Great Basin and American Southwestern indigenous cultures and appear to have been used in various religious rituals. Bighorn sheep horned headdresses can be fashioned directly from the horns of a bighorn sheep and can be functionally fashioned as a garment to be worn on the head without excessive weight and with little difficulty to the wearer. Ethnographic data testifies that the bighorn sheep was applied as a cultural symbol and was employed as a 'visual prayer' relating to the cosmic regeneration of life (e.g. good health, successful human reproduction, sufficient rain and water, and ample natural resource [i.e. animal and plant] fertility).

Research paper thumbnail of CONTRIBUTIONS TO TULARE LAKE ARCHAEOLOGY VII UNIQUE TOOLS AND WIDESTEM POINTS FROM THE TULARE LAKE REGION

Research paper thumbnail of Ghost Dancing Whirlwind.pdf

The Whirlwind is a Ghost Dancing: Reflections the Mirror Point Site, Searles Lake, Western Mojav... more The Whirlwind is a Ghost Dancing: Reflections the Mirror Point Site, Searles Lake, Western Mojave Desert, Eastern California.

A concentration of over 100 rock cairns exists on the edge of a dry lake. Why? This article contains speculations relating to the cosmological metaphors and religious symbolism of the historic and prehistoric inhabitants of the region who were Numic and Archaic Utoaztecan speakers.

Research paper thumbnail of Handbook of the Kawaiisu

Overview on the people, material culture, contemporary exposition, and traditional lifeways of th... more Overview on the people, material culture, contemporary exposition, and traditional lifeways of the people who inhabit the Tehachapi Mountains and western Mojave Desert.

Richly illustrated and extensively referenced. Winner of the California Governor's Award for Historic Preservation.

Research paper thumbnail of Handbook of the Kawaiisu

Research paper thumbnail of California Archaeology Fluted and Basally Thinned Concave-Base Points of Obsidian in the Borden Collection from Inyo County, Alta California: Age and Significance

This article describes, classifies, and provides the calculated ages of 14 basally thinned and fl... more This article describes, classifies, and provides the calculated ages of 14 basally thinned and fluted points of obsidian in the Borden collection from Rose Valley in southern Inyo County, California. With the exception of one item of Fish Springs obsidian, the specimens are all made of glass from geologic subsources in the Coso Volcanic Field. Typologically, the fragmentary and reworked artifacts appear to represent Clovis, or perhaps Clovis-derived, concave-base lanceolate points. Obsidian hydration measurements permit age calculations that range between approximately 13,793 and 11,308 calendar years ago. The calculated ages of the Borden artifacts are consistent with their discovery on landforms associated with Younger Dryas and very early Holocene wetlands. Our research results also suggest that Clovis technology may have persisted longer in California than it did in the southeastern, central, and southwestern United States.

Research paper thumbnail of California Archaeology Fluted and Basally Thinned Concave-Base Points of Obsidian in the Borden Collection from Inyo County, Alta California: Age and Significance

This article describes, classifies, and provides the calculated ages of 14 basally thinned and fl... more This article describes, classifies, and provides the calculated ages of 14 basally thinned and fluted points of obsidian in the Borden collection from Rose Valley in southern Inyo County, California. With the exception of one item of Fish Springs obsidian, the specimens are all made of glass from geologic subsources in the Coso Volcanic Field. Typologically, the fragmentary and reworked artifacts appear to represent Clovis, or perhaps Clovis-derived, concave-base lanceolate points. Obsidian hydration measurements permit age calculations that range between approximately 13,793 and 11,308 calendar years ago. The calculated ages of the Borden artifacts are consistent with their discovery on landforms associated with Younger Dryas and very early Holocene wetlands. Our research results also suggest that Clovis technology may have persisted longer in California than it did in the southeastern, central, and southwestern United States.

Research paper thumbnail of Berlin's Ethnological Museum: The California Indian Collection

The Ethnologisches Museum: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (formerly the Museum für Völkerkunde, and ... more The Ethnologisches Museum: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (formerly the Museum für Völkerkunde, and referred to here as the Berlin Ethnological Museum) contains over 1,000 artifacts fashioned by California Indians, collected between 1837 and 1914. The collection is rich and varied; it represents one of the earliest ethnographic collections from Native California and includes ethnological treasures of great aesthetic quality and rarity. The collection is an invaluable source of scientific information and cultural renewal. The objects are highly regarded by living descendants of the Native Californians who long ago sold, traded, and exchanged these artifacts with collectors. They are heirlooms reflecting tribal history and culture, and are worthy of remembrance and study. In this paper we offer first-hand observations on a small sample (n =10) of the Berlin Ethnological Museum's California Indian collection, with a particular emphasis on baskets. We describe and discuss these objects in detail in order to bring to life the people and cultures that brilliantly produced such exquisite, artistic objects and ethnographic treasures. We also attempt to identify their historical context and the circumstances motivating their collection, so as to better understand how they came to be curated in Berlin. Finally, we provide a brief overview of the history and development of the Berlin Ethnological Museum's California Indian collection, because the intriguing interconnections and influential coincidences associated with it provide insights into the history and nature of the early development of California Indian studies and particularly illuminate the evolution of the science of anthropology as an academic discipline in America.

Research paper thumbnail of Berlin's Ethnological Museum: The California Indian Collection

The Ethnologisches Museum: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (formerly the Museum für Völkerkunde, and ... more The Ethnologisches Museum: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (formerly the Museum für Völkerkunde, and referred to here as the Berlin Ethnological Museum) contains over 1,000 artifacts fashioned by California Indians, collected between 1837 and 1914. The collection is rich and varied; it represents one of the earliest ethnographic collections from Native California and includes ethnological treasures of great aesthetic quality and rarity. The collection is an invaluable source of scientific information and cultural renewal. The objects are highly regarded by living descendants of the Native Californians who long ago sold, traded, and exchanged these artifacts with collectors. They are heirlooms reflecting tribal history and culture, and are worthy of remembrance and study. In this paper we offer first-hand observations on a small sample (n =10) of the Berlin Ethnological Museum's California Indian collection, with a particular emphasis on baskets. We describe and discuss these objects in detail in order to bring to life the people and cultures that brilliantly produced such exquisite, artistic objects and ethnographic treasures. We also attempt to identify their historical context and the circumstances motivating their collection, so as to better understand how they came to be curated in Berlin. Finally, we provide a brief overview of the history and development of the Berlin Ethnological Museum's California Indian collection, because the intriguing interconnections and influential coincidences associated with it provide insights into the history and nature of the early development of California Indian studies and particularly illuminate the evolution of the science of anthropology as an academic discipline in America.

Research paper thumbnail of Berlin's Ethnological Museum: The California Indian Collection

The Ethnologisches Museum: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (formerly the Museum für Völkerkunde, and ... more The Ethnologisches Museum: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (formerly the Museum für Völkerkunde, and referred to here as the Berlin Ethnological Museum) contains over 1,000 artifacts fashioned by California Indians, collected between 1837 and 1914. The collection is rich and varied; it represents one of the earliest ethnographic collections from Native California and includes ethnological treasures of great aesthetic quality and rarity. The collection is an invaluable source of scientific information and cultural renewal. The objects are highly regarded by living descendants of the Native Californians who long ago sold, traded, and exchanged these artifacts with collectors. They are heirlooms reflecting tribal history and culture, and are worthy of remembrance and study. In this paper we offer first-hand observations on a small sample (n =10) of the Berlin Ethnological Museum's California Indian collection, with a particular emphasis on baskets. We describe and discuss these objects in detail in order to bring to life the people and cultures that brilliantly produced such exquisite, artistic objects and ethnographic treasures. We also attempt to identify their historical context and the circumstances motivating their collection, so as to better understand how they came to be curated in Berlin. Finally, we provide a brief overview of the history and development of the Berlin Ethnological Museum's California Indian collection, because the intriguing interconnections and influential coincidences associated with it provide insights into the history and nature of the early development of California Indian studies and particularly illuminate the evolution of the science of anthropology as an academic discipline in America.

Research paper thumbnail of Prehistory of Kern County:  Cultural Resource Overview

This overview of the history , prehistory and ethnology of Kern County provides a synthesis on th... more This overview of the history , prehistory and ethnology of Kern County provides a synthesis on the Native people, their traditional lifeways, the archaeological record and related scientific studies. It also includes a discussion on the environment of the region. Finally, it provides a number of management recommendations for preserving, protecting and enhancing the cultural resources of the county.

Research paper thumbnail of PROJECTILE POINT PETROGLYPHS OF THE COSO RANGE: CHRONOLOGY AND FUNCTION  2017

The Coso Range is recognized as having the greatest concentration of prehistoric rock drawings in... more The Coso Range is recognized as having the greatest concentration of prehistoric rock drawings in the Western Hemisphere. One class of images are animal-human figures with projectile points. Recent research reveals that there are more of these images than originally identified. Experimental X-ray fluorescence and morphological assessment provide an estimate of their age. Close study allows us to posit working hypotheses regarding their nature and function. It is suggested that these figures are principally associated with reproductive symbolism – fertility of the earth and human fecundity.

Research paper thumbnail of Ancient Stones of Black Glass: Tracing and Dating Paleoindian Obsidian Artifacts: pp. 52-98

Archaeological sites within the Great Basin and California appear to demonstrate that human occup... more Archaeological sites within the Great
Basin and California appear to demonstrate that
human occupation occurred in late Pleistocene
and early Holocene times from ca. 12,000 to
6,000 B.C. A prominent locality for Paleoindian
material is Lake China. Thousands of artifacts
dot the fossil shoreline on the desert floor of eastern
Kern County at the interface of the Mojave
Desert and the Great Basin near Ridgecrest
(Davis 1978).
In Central California, projectile points hypothesized
to date from these periods have been
discovered in abundance at the Witt locality (CA-Kin-
32) on the southwest margins of Tulare Lake
in Kings County in the southern San Joaquin Valley
(Dillon 2002, Moratto 2000; Riddell and
Olsen 1969; Wallace 1991). Some of these artifacts
are basally thinned, Concave Base points
(over 500). These projectiles are similar to Clovis
points but are often smaller, somewhat thinner,
are pressure rather than percussion flaked, and,
most often, lack the distinguishing flutes (Rondeau
2005a, 2005b; Rondeau et al. 2007; Wallace
1991; West et al. 1991). The range of variation
for these points, typically assigned to the
Great Basin Concave Base Series, has not been
clearly defined. The Tulare Lake points appear to
be a local variant of this same tradition.
Until recently, no direct dates for the flaked
stone materials found at either locality have been
published (yet, see Basgall 2003, 2005a, 2005b).
An indirect means of obtaining such temporal parameters
is the use of obsidian tracing and hydration
dating. Thirty-eight (38) artifacts from
China (n = 5) and Tulare (n = 33) Lakes were
chemically characterized to source and analyzed
for their hydration measurements. Results of
these studies indicate that obsidian hydration dating
is a useful tool even for very ancient artifacts
of volcanic glass. Obsidian tracing and dating indicate
that Concave Base points are partly contemporaneous
with Clovis age artifacts, although
they have a far lengthier duration dating from ca.
13,500 to 10,000 years cal before present (BP).
Great Basin Stemmed Series points are of more recent
age dating from ca. 11,000 to 7,000 years
cal BP. Eccentric crescents are apparently coeval
with both Concave Base and Great Basin
Stemmed Series points and have a lengthy temporal
span from 13,500 to 7,000 years cal BP.
Tracing studies of the early obsidian implements
from Tulare Lake, in this study, indicate
that Concave Base tradition foragers were far
more mobile than the Great Basin Stemmed Series
cultural expression. Obsidian originated from no less
than six (6) different source localities from 100 to
250 miles distant. These late Pleistocene hunter-gatherers
traversed enormous foraging territories
and either directly accessed or traded for volcanic
glass and fused shale from the Napa Valley, Casa

Diablo, Coso, Mount Hicks, Mono Glass Mountain,
Queen, and Grimes Canyon sources. Later,
early Holocene Stemmed Series peoples had a
smaller, more limited foraging radius and more
protracted mobility patterns procuring only Coso
and Casa Diablo volcanic glass sources.

Research paper thumbnail of ICE-AGE STONE TOOLS FROM THE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY

The present publication consists of four manuscripts (included as chapters one through four). Ini... more The present publication consists of four
manuscripts (included as chapters one through
four). Initially, six chapters were planned but
two authors could not meet the time constraints.
Hopefully, they will be included in a subsequent
TULARG publication.
Briefly, Chapter 1 surveys and identifies a
flaked stone assemblage of time-diagnostic artifacts
from Tulare Lake. This is the first published
attempt to categorize and describe Tulare
Lake’s Paleoindian tool kit. Chapter 2 presents
the initial attempts at obsidian tracing and hydration
dating of Tulare Lake’s ancient artifacts
as well as providing a small sample from China
Lake in eastern California. Chapter 3 critically
reevaluates the number of reported Clovis-like
projectile point discoveries from Tulare Lake
and finally, Chapter 4 describes a unique ground
stone “butterfly” crescent from the study area
and discusses its possible meaning, function, and
significance.
Tulare Lake, located in California’s southern
San Joaquin Valley midway between the San
Francisco Bay and the Los Angeles Basin, was
formed sometime during the later part of the
Pleistocene epoch and, over millennia, expanded
to cover about 760 square miles before it was
drained and reclaimed for agricultural crops. Artifacts
collected from early shorelines suggest
the lake supported Paleoindian people for a considerable
amount of time before the earliest
Yokuts occupation.

Research paper thumbnail of Cultural Resource Management Plan for the Fossil Falls/Little Lake Locality

The cover figur e depicts a petroglyph in the shape of a bighorn sheep (OVis c anadensis). This r... more The cover figur e depicts a petroglyph in the shape of a bighorn sheep (OVis c anadensis). This rock art style is typical of the Coso Range, fifteen miles north of Fossil Falls.

Research paper thumbnail of Rock Paintings of the Coso Region:  Analysis and Interpretation of the Coso Style

Articles and a synthesis representing a variety of independent researchers attenpting to understa... more Articles and a synthesis representing a variety of independent researchers attenpting to understand a painted rock art form in the southwestern Great Basin. This regional set of rock art data provides basic iinformation and an analysis of Coso Style pictogrpahs. The latter are historic paintings that have elements reminiscent of Coso Representational rock drawings.

Research paper thumbnail of Handbook of the Kawaiisu

Research paper thumbnail of Linguistic Archaeology: Prehistoric Population Movements and Cultural Identity

Scholars posit contrasting models of the ethnic identity and language / population movements of p... more Scholars posit contrasting models of the ethnic identity and language / population movements of prehistoric peoples in the southwestern Great Basin and far southern Sierra Nevada. These models favor either in situ cultural development or population replacement and expansion. Archaeological data from these areas are used in this dissertation to examine past movements of peoples speaking Numic and Tubatulabalic languages and, thereby, to evaluate the models.Seven archaeological studies in the Kern Plateau and Scodie Mountains areas of the Sierra Nevada are reviewed including: 69 archaeological sites; analysis of excavation results from 54 sites; 475 obsidian hydration measurements; and 28 radiocarbon dates.

Additional information (i.e., the dating and character of rock art, mitochondrial DNA analyses, burial patterns, obsidian hydration chronology, toolstone use, dietary patterns, and distribution of time-sensitive artifacts) was gathered from archaeological studies elsewhere in the southwestern Great Basin. All these data were evaluated with regard to whether they support models of cultural continuity or population replacement.In the Kern Plateau interior and the Isabella Basin, archeological evidence favors the hypothesis that the Tubatulabal language and cultural tradition are of long standing.

Archaeological sites show continuous, unbroken occupation from the historic era back 2500 years or more. Distributions of obsidian hydration rim measurements indicate a continuous prehistoric cultural sequence. Dietary patterns also show a consistent emphasis on large game and pine nut use during a span of more than two millenia. The use of one geologic source of volcanic glass and the persistence of a solitary rock art tradition further testify to a single (i.e., Tubatulabalic) cultural expression.

The Sierra Nevada crest and the southwestern Great Basin, in contrast, witnessed significant subsistence-settlement changes at the beginning of the Haiwee Period (ca.A.D. 600). Subsistence changes included: a decline in the hunting of large game; an initial and growing emphasis on dryland hard seeds; the beginning of intensive greencone pinyon pine nut use; and the introduction of specialized sites focusing on the mass harvest of easily procured and abundant small game animals. These variations in hunter-gatherer adaptation may indicate culturally distinct, sequential populations pursuing varying subsistence-settlement strategies rather than an in-situ cultural tradition responding to environmental change. I argue that these subsistence shifts reflect distinctive Numic adaptations.

Archaeological data support the hypothesis that pre-Numic occupations exhibit cultural continuity from the Newberry Period (1500 B.C.- A.D. 600) into the early Haiwee interval (A.D. 600-1000). Later cultural discontinuities support the thesis that Numic groups entered the region early in the Haiwee era, coincident with the introduction of Rose Spring and Eastgate projectile points (ca. A.D. 600). Numic archaeological expressions show marked continuities from the Haiwee Period (A.D. 600-1300) through the Marana interval (A.D. 1300–1850) and into the historic era. The in-migrating Numic
populations most likely produced simple, scratched style rock drawings and later on,during the historic era, Coso Style paintings. In contrast, within the Coso Range, growing evidence now suggests that Coso Representational Style petroglyphs were produced only by pre-Numic groups largelyl
during the late Newberry (500 B.C- A.D. 600) and early Haiwee (A.D.600-1000) periods.

Petroglyph manufacture appears to have ceased abruptly in the midst of peak production and elaboration during the Haiwee Period possibly because of the depletion of the local bighorn sheep herds. Archaeological data and limited mitochondrial DNA studies are also consistent with the idea that Numic populations eventually replaced or absorbed pre-Numic groups. During the late Haiwee era (A.D. 1000-1300) Numic peoples apparently expanded out of
their former heartland and began their migrations northward and to the east, ultimately dispersing throughout most of the Great Basin.

Research paper thumbnail of Bradshaw Foundation Podcast - Interview with Dr. Alan Garfinkel on Coso Rock Art

Research paper thumbnail of KEYWORDS: Animal ceremonialism -Bighorn sheep ritual -Native American religion THE GREEN RIVER BIGHORN SHEEP HORNED HEADDRESS, SAN RAFAEL SWELL, UTAH

Rock Art Research, 2019

A bighorn sheep horned headdress discovered near the Green River, in eastern Utah within the Unit... more A bighorn sheep horned headdress discovered near the Green River, in eastern Utah within the United States is reviewed. Its history, discovery and subsequent analysis is described. It appears to have been a powerful headpiece employed in a symbolic context for religious expression, perhaps worn by a ritualist in association with the hunt for large game animals (bighorn sheep, antelope or deer). It was likely associated with the Fremont Cultural Tradition, as it was dated by radiocarbon assay to a calibrated, calendar age of 1020-1160 CE and was further adorned with six Olivella biplicata shell beads (split-punched type) originating from the California coast that apparently date to that same general time frame. Such head-dresses are mentioned in the ethnographic literature for several Great Basin and American Southwestern indigenous cultures and appear to have been used in various religious rituals. Bighorn sheep horned headdresses can be fashioned directly from the horns of a bighorn sheep and can be functionally fashioned as a garment to be worn on the head without excessive weight and with little difficulty to the wearer. Ethnographic data testifies that the bighorn sheep was applied as a cultural symbol and was employed as a 'visual prayer' relating to the cosmic regeneration of life (e.g. good health, successful human reproduction, sufficient rain and water, and ample natural resource [i.e. animal and plant] fertility).

Research paper thumbnail of Origin of language and culture: ancient history of mankind Anthropology UDC 212

HORNED HUNTER-SHAMAN, ANCESTOR, AND DEITY There are numerous depictions of antlered figures in th... more HORNED HUNTER-SHAMAN, ANCESTOR, AND DEITY There are numerous depictions of antlered figures in the rock art of prehistoric Eurasia and many representations of horned humans in the Far West of North America. These antlered and horned individuals have in some cases been interpreted as wearing animal headdresses. Headdresses with deer antlers are recognized archaeologically in Mesolithic Europe. A prehistoric bighorn sheep headdress has been discovered and dated from Utah in the United States. Also there is historic ethnographic evidence of deer and bighorn sheep headdresses/disguises for Siberia, northern Europe and North America. We propose to compare these data and review similarities and differences in these cultural traditions. We highlight comparative data regarding their age, and associated animal ceremonialism in indigenous religious expression.

Research paper thumbnail of CONTRIBUTIONS TO TULARE LAKE ARCHAEOLOGY VII UNIQUE TOOLS AND WIDESTEM POINTS FROM THE TULARE LAKE REGION

TULARG, 2016

Widestem points are to some degree common at the Witt Site (Ca-Kin-32) locality of Tulare Lake. ... more Widestem points are to some degree common at the Witt Site (Ca-Kin-32) locality of Tulare Lake. Within the Hopkins collection, there are 101 examples of widestem points that were complete enough to allow classification. These artifacts were manufactured from a variety of toolstone materials. Most of these points were fashioned from locally available chert (cryptocrystalline silicate = ccs) and other materials (fine grained volcanic = fgv) including basalt, fine grained igneous (aka rhyolite), quartz (crystal, milk white and rose) and quartzite (n = 65) along with (n = 36) specimens made of obsidian (obs). Virtually identical point forms to the Tulare Lake Widestems are recognized from Northern California and are identified at the Borax Lake Site (CA-LAK-36) and in the larger vicinity of the Clear Lake region. Those North Coast Range projectile point forms (known as Borax Lake Widestem Points) appear to overlap in age with both fluted points and crescents, but continue to be employed until a more recent era discontinuing at a time estimated to be 6,000 years cal b.p. In the present study, we formally classify Tulare Lake Widestem Point forms from Tulare Lake found within the Witt locality and determine whether they are of comparable age to other early Holocene artifacts recovered from Borax Lake. The entire sample of formally classifiable Tulare Lake Widestem Points manufactured from obsidian was analyzed to both chemically characterize these artifacts as to provenience (geographic source) and to determine their obsidian hydration measurements. Obsidian studies appear to date the Tulare Lake Widestem Points to an average age of 8,250 calibrated years before present. Applying a single standard deviation added to that mean or average provides a time range for the bulk of the Tulare Lake Widestem assemblage from ca. 7,500 to 9,000 years ago. Source determinations for Tulare Lake Widestem show that a brisk trade was taking place with imported obsidian coming from Fish Springs, Coso, Annadel and Casa Diablo obsidian sources. Most of the obsidian Widestems at Tulare Lake came from the Casa Diablo suite of obsidian sources. This obsidian toolstone contributes a significant portion to the Widestem assemblage and testifies to long range movement and the value of the imported toolstone to the indigenous people who occupied Tulare Lake.

Research paper thumbnail of HORNED HUNTER - SHAMAN, ANCESTOR, AND DEITY

Origin of language and culture: ancient history of mankind, Vol. 5, № 1, 2018, pages , 2018

There are numerous depictions of antlered figures in the rock art of prehistoric Eurasia and many... more There are numerous depictions of antlered figures in the rock art of prehistoric Eurasia and many representations of horned humans in the Far West of North America. These antlered and horned individuals have in some cases been interpreted as wearing animal headdresses. Headdresses with deer antlers are recognized archaeologically in Mesolithic Europe. A prehistoric bighorn sheep headdress has been discovered and dated from Utah in the United States. Also there is historic ethnographic evidence of deer and bighorn sheep headdresses/disguises for Siberia, northern Europe and North America. We propose to compare these data and review similarities and differences in these cultural traditions. We highlight comparative data regarding their age, and associated animal ceremonialism in indigenous religious expression.

Research paper thumbnail of Kawaiisu Basketweavers for the Fencepost - Contribution Number 6 - Version 1.0.pdf

A quick overview and a collection of photographs reflecting the history and character of the Kawa... more A quick overview and a collection of photographs reflecting the history and character of the Kawaiisu basket weaving traditions.

Research paper thumbnail of Civil War Era Rifle Cartridge from Sand Canyon.pdf

An 1860's era civil war fired rifle cartridge was discovered in Sand Canyon. This cartridge is p... more An 1860's era civil war fired rifle cartridge was discovered in Sand Canyon. This cartridge is possibly evidence of US military action against the Native California Indians that lived in the Tehachapi Mountains during this time.

Research paper thumbnail of The Kawaiisu Indians and Grapevine Canyon.pdf

Grapevine Canyon and the Desert Kawaiisu are very poorly reported in the anthropological literatu... more Grapevine Canyon and the Desert Kawaiisu are very poorly reported in the anthropological literature. Here are some reflections of a number of related discoveries that fill out the picture of the rather scant information on Julian Steward's Desert Kawaiisu informant - Thomas Spratt.

Research paper thumbnail of Rose Spring Point Chronology and Numic Population Movements in Eastern California

In this brief paper I would like to consider the data now available with which to date Rose Sprin... more In this brief paper I would like to consider the data now available with which to date Rose Spring points in eastern California. The data included and related discussion provides further evidence for the timing and movement of the Numic in-migration into eastern California.

Research paper thumbnail of California Archaeology Fluted and Basally Thinned Concave-Base Points of Obsidian in the Borden Collection from Inyo County, Alta California: Age and Significance

This paper describes, classifies, and provides the calculated ages of 14 basally thinned and flut... more This paper describes, classifies, and provides the calculated ages of 14 basally thinned and fluted points of obsidian in the Borden collection from Rose Valley in southern Inyo County. Excepting one item of Fish Springs obsidian, the specimens are all of glass from geologic sub-sources in the Coso Volcanic Field. Typologically, the fragmentary and reworked artifacts appear to represent Clovis, or perhaps Clovis-derived, concave-base lanceolate points. Obsidian hydration measurements permit age calculations that range from approximately 13,793 to 11,308 calendar years ago. The calculated ages of the Borden artifacts are consistent with their discovery on landforms associated with Younger Dryas and very early Holocene wetlands. Our research results also suggest that Clovis technology may have persisted longer in California than it did in the southeastern, central, and southwestern United States.

Research paper thumbnail of California Archaeology Fluted and Basally Thinned Concave-Base Points of Obsidian in the Borden Collection from Inyo County, Alta California: Age and Significance

Abstract This article describes, classifies, and provides the calculated ages of 14 basally thinne... more Abstract This article describes, classifies, and provides the calculated ages of 14 basally thinned and fluted points of obsidian in the Borden collection from Rose Valley in southern Inyo County, California. With the exception of one item of Fish Springs obsidian, the specimens are all made of glass from geologic subsources in the Coso Volcanic Field. Typologically, the fragmentary and reworked artifacts appear to represent Clovis, or perhaps Clovis-derived, concave-base lanceolate points. Obsidian hydration measurements permit age calculations that range between approximately 13,793 and 11,308 calendar years ago. The calculated ages of the Borden artifacts are consistent with their discovery on landforms associated with Younger Dryas and very early Holocene wetlands. Our research results also suggest that Clovis technology may have persisted longer in California than it did in the southeastern, central, and southwestern United States.

Research paper thumbnail of California Archaeology Fluted and Basally Thinned Concave-Base Points of Obsidian in the Borden Collection from Inyo County, Alta California: Age and Significance

Abstract This article describes, classifies, and provides the calculated ages of 14 basally thinne... more Abstract This article describes, classifies, and provides the calculated ages of 14 basally thinned and fluted points of obsidian in the Borden collection from Rose Valley in southern Inyo County, California. With the exception of one item of Fish Springs obsidian, the specimens are all made of glass from geologic subsources in the Coso Volcanic Field. Typologically, the fragmentary and reworked artifacts appear to represent Clovis, or perhaps Clovis-derived, concave-base lanceolate points. Obsidian hydration measurements permit age calculations that range between approximately 13,793 and 11,308 calendar years ago. The calculated ages of the Borden artifacts are consistent with their discovery on landforms associated with Younger Dryas and very early Holocene wetlands. Our research results also suggest that Clovis technology may have persisted longer in California than it did in the southeastern, central, and southwestern United States.

Research paper thumbnail of California Archaeology Fluted and Basally Thinned Concave-Base Points of Obsidian in the Borden Collection from Inyo County, Alta California: Age and Significance

This article describes, classifies, and provides the calculated ages of 14 basally thinned and flut... more This article describes, classifies, and provides the calculated ages of 14 basally thinned and fluted points of obsidian in the Borden collection from Rose Valley in southern Inyo County, California. With the exception of one item of Fish Springs obsidian, the specimens are all made of glass from geologic subsources in the Coso Volcanic Field. Typologically, the fragmentary and reworked artifacts appear to represent Clovis, or perhaps Clovis-derived, concave-base lanceolate points. Obsidian hydration measurements permit age calculations that range between approximately 13,793 and 11,308 calendar years ago. The calculated ages of the Borden artifacts are consistent with their discovery on landforms associated with Younger Dryas and very early Holocene wetlands. Our research results also suggest that Clovis technology may have persisted longer in California than it did in the southeastern, central, and southwestern United States.

Research paper thumbnail of An Obsidian Biface from the Rio Bravo Ranch, Kern County, California: Dating, Tracing, and Cultural Context

A complete obsidian biface was recovered along the Kern River on the Rio Bravo Ranch near Bakersf... more A complete obsidian biface was recovered along the Kern River on the Rio Bravo Ranch near Bakersfield, California. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) trace element analysis placed the artifact 130 kilometers from its toolstone source at the West Sugarloaf obsidian subsource within the Coso Volcanic Field. Contemporary, source-specific, temperature-adjusted obsidian hydration analysis dates the biface to the late Newberry Period (ca 500 B.C. to 600 A.D.). The biface was likely transported from the Coso Volcanic Field over the Sierra Nevada during a period of peak obsidian biface production, and intensive trans-Sierran exchange and obsidian export. Introduction The occasion for this study stems from the discovery of a complete obsidian biface along the banks of the Kern River on the Rio Bravo Ranch in Kern County, California. The artifact was recovered in 2017 by Adele R. Nickel, to whom this study is dedicated. Since the 1950's the Nickel family has operated the Rio Bravo Ranch, a 16,000-acre citrus, almond, and walnut farm just east of Bakersfield, California. We were asked to research and date the biface to add to the existing public outreach at Rio Bravo Ranch. The character of this artifact is interesting, due to its size and the distance it traveled from the obsidian toolstone source. The goals of this study are: to identify the source of volcanic glass employed in the biface manufacture though quantitative X-ray fluorescence (XRF) trace element analysis; date the artifact utilizing contemporary, source-specific, temperature-adjusted obsidian hydration analysis; and finally, to place the Rio Bravo biface within its prehistoric context. Background and Setting

Research paper thumbnail of La Rumorosa Rock Art Along the Border: A Survey of Kumeyaay and Related Artwork in Southern California, Colorado River Corridor, Western Arizona and Baja California. :  Book Review by Alan P. Garfinkel

Research paper thumbnail of PATTERNED BODY ANTHRO- POMORPHS OF THE COSOS: HOW MIGHT CONCENTRIC CIRCLE PSYCHOGRAMS FUN- CTION IN ETHNOGRAPHIC SCHEMES?

In this paper we examine deep time and space parallels in rock art patterns pertaining to the pat... more In this paper we examine deep time and space parallels in rock art patterns pertaining to the patterned body anthropomorph iconic motif (PBA) found in Coso Range rock art sites in ea- stern California. The authors propose that re- curring geometrical patterns found on some of the more representational or identifiable shapes in the region reveal the presence of an ancient set of visual motifs that continue to be found in oral tradition and the symbolic culture of de- scendant Numic and broader Uto-Aztecan na- tive peoples, including the Hopi and Huichol. Coso PBAs have become a prominent ar- chetypical image of California and American rock art, evinced by their use as trademarks for both the Maturango Museum in Ridgecrest, California and as employed by the United Sta- tes national rock art organization, the Ameri- can Rock Art Research Association (ARARA). The present research investigates the possible evolution of ideas and interpretations asso- ciated with these abstract figures. We explore the PBA as a formalized perception of a deity and/or supra-mundane being, as an adorant shaman, animal master/mistress, and bearer
of the ‘eye of god’ or nierika motif of southern Mesoamerican, Uto-Aztecan ethnic groups.
Keywords adorant, animal master, aboriginal cosmology, Coso, Huichol, Kawaiisu, nierika, Numic, ojo de dios, PBA, psychogram, rock art, Uto-Aztecan, Yahwera

Research paper thumbnail of Neuro-ethological Messages from Rock Pictures:

Research paper thumbnail of Neuro-ethnological messages from rock pictures

Anthropomorphism has been considered as evidence of a plenum for religious theogony. Such determ... more Anthropomorphism has been considered as evidence of a plenum for religious theogony. Such determinations have been noted by various anthropologists since Malinowski (1948, 1979) formulated the theory that divinities represented agencies of intentions that could not be explained as direct causalities in the contingent world.

Malinowski (1979) identified that these symbols were ascribed as carriers of unexplained intentions and also as surrogates of wish-fulfilments. We suggest alternatively that human configurations from preliterate forager societies appear to have innate psychological objectivity.

A neuro-ethological analysis of these shapes and configurations indicates that animal-human figures (also called patterned body anthropomorphs; aka PBAs) of multiple genders (including standard males and females and notable trans-genders), that we see on rock surfaces essentially perform instances of what Lorenz and Martin (1971) called fixed-action stimulation for any contemporary viewer - just as it did for our ancestors.

The possibility exists that PBAs contain visual components that evoke intense, though transient, reflex states. These responses of subjects towards their visual characteristics serve to demonstrate that the prehistoric drawings of anthropomorphs in particular were perhaps meant to sensitize and prepare an individual with what Boyer called “counterintuitive experiences” in which common memory combines with unexpected properties and facilitates emotions of transcendence, fear or strangeness. These data support the thesis that such visual images communicate somewhat independently from their social value and utility to create and deliberately nurture an impression of atemporal numinosity. The latter suggestions perhaps helps in deducing the symbolic message of these ancient religious symbols.

Research paper thumbnail of Neuro-ethnological Messages from Rock Pictures

Research paper thumbnail of Berlin's Ethnological Museum: The California Indian Collection

The Ethnologisches Museum: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (formerly the Museum für Völkerkunde, and ... more The Ethnologisches Museum: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (formerly the Museum für Völkerkunde, and referred to here as the Berlin Ethnological Museum) contains over 1,000 artifacts fashioned by California Indians, collected between 1837 and 1914. The collection is rich and varied; it represents one of the earliest ethnographic collections from Native California and includes ethnological treasures of great aesthetic quality and rarity. The collection is an invaluable source of scientific information and cultural renewal. The objects are highly regarded by living descendants of the Native Californians who long ago sold, traded, and exchanged these artifacts with collectors. They are heirlooms reflecting tribal history and culture, and are worthy of remembrance and study. In this paper we offer first-hand observations on a small sample (n =10) of the Berlin Ethnological Museum's California Indian collection, with a particular emphasis on baskets. We describe and discuss these objects in detail in order to bring to life the people and cultures that brilliantly produced such exquisite, artistic objects and ethnographic treasures. We also attempt to identify their historical context and the circumstances motivating their collection, so as to better understand how they came to be curated in Berlin. Finally, we provide a brief overview of the history and development of the Berlin Ethnological Museum's California Indian collection, because the intriguing interconnections and influential coincidences associated with it provide insights into the history and nature of the early development of California Indian studies and particularly illuminate the evolution of the science of anthropology as an academic discipline in America.

Research paper thumbnail of FURTHER STUDIES OF ANCIENT BLACK GLASS: OBSIDIAN TRACING AND HYDRATION DATING TULARE LAKE WIDESTEM POINTS

Widestem points are to some degree common at the Witt Site (Ca-Kin-32) locality of Tulare Lake. W... more Widestem points are to some degree common at the Witt Site (Ca-Kin-32) locality of Tulare Lake. Within the Hopkins collection, there are 101 examples of widestem points that were complete enough to allow classification. These artifacts were manufactured from a variety of toolstone materials. Most of these points were fashioned from locally available chert (cryptocrystalline silicate = ccs) and other materials (fine grained volcanics = fgv) including basalt, fine grained igneous (aka rhyolite), quartz (crystal, milk white and rose) and quartzite (n = 65) along with (n = 36) specimens made of obsidian (obs). Virtually identical point forms to the Tulare Lake Widestems are recognized from Northern California and are identified at the Borax Lake Site (CA-LAK-36) and in the larger vicinity of the Clear Lake region. Those North Coast Range projectile point forms (known as Borax Lake Widestem Points) appear to overlap in age with both fluted points and crescents, but continue to be employed until a more recent era discontinuing at a time estimated to be 6,000 years cal b.p. In the present study, we formally classify Tulare Lake Widestem Point forms from Tulare Lake found within the Witt locality and determine whether they are of comparable age to other early Holocene artifacts recovered from Borax Lake. The entire sample of formally classifiable Tulare Lake Widestem Points manufactured from obsidian was analyzed to both chemically characterize these artifacts as to provenience (geographic source) and to determine their obsidian hydration measurements. Obsidian studies appear to date the Tulare Lake Widestem Points to an average age of 8,250 calibrated years before present. Applying a single standard deviation added to that mean or average provides a time range for the bulk of the Tulare Lake Widestem assemblage from ca. 7,500 to 9,000 years ago. Source determinations for Tulare Lake Widestem show that imported obsidian was coming from Fish Springs, Coso, Annadel and Casa Diablo obsidian sources. Most of the obsidian Widestems at Tulare Lake came from the Casa Diablo suite of obsidian sources. This obsidian toolstone contributes a significant portion to the Widestem assemblage and testifies to long range movement and the value of the imported toolstone to the indigenous people who occupied Tulare Lake.

Research paper thumbnail of Native American Religion - Academia Teaser.pdf

Archaeology Podcast Network, 2019

Webinar presentation of an open discussion on the Archaeology Podcast Network. This presentation... more Webinar presentation of an open discussion on the Archaeology Podcast Network. This presentation focuses on an understanding of Native American religion including animism, shamanism and totemism. Case studies include a discussion of the Hunting Religion concept, indexical animals and AmerIndian perspectivism. The material here is about 1/3 of the full presentation of the Webinar.

Research paper thumbnail of Weather Shamanism and Ghost Dance Cosmology - On-line Seminar.pptx

This presentation twins with an hour-long, open-ended question and answer period. The hour long ... more This presentation twins with an hour-long, open-ended question and answer period. The hour long slide show and talk provides an extensive and intensive review of the subject of rain shamanism in the Far West throughout California and the Great Basin. The discussion includes a review of a unique weather shaman’s bundle and also first-hand accounts of Native practices and the theology of weather shamanism. Extensive references to archaeological data (rock drawings and paintings, charmstones, crystals, shell ornaments, and other elements of Native material culture) are included and amplify the discussion.
The prominent revitalistic movements of the 1870 and 1890 Ghost Dance Religion have an important element of rain shamanism integrated into themes of ancestor resurrection and world renewal. Included in the presentation are new discoveries regarding Ghost Dance rock paintings in eastern California and the Great Basin.
The presentation highlights working hypotheses that weather shamans ritually create various elements of weather through homeopathic and sympathetic magic directed at creating sacred wind, clouds, rain, and thunder.

Research paper thumbnail of Celestial Thunder: Weather Shamanism and Ghost Dance Theology in Native California and the Great Basin

This presentation twins with an hour-long, open-ended question and answer period. The hour long ... more This presentation twins with an hour-long, open-ended question and answer period. The hour long slide show and talk provides an extensive and intensive review of the subject of rain shamanism in the Far West throughout California and the Great Basin. The discussion includes a review of a unique weather shaman’s bundle and also first-hand accounts of Native practices and the theology of weather shamanism. Extensive references to archaeological data (rock drawings and paintings, charmstones, crystals, shell ornaments, and other elements of Native material culture) are included and amplify the discussion.
The prominent revitalistic movements of the 1870 and 1890 Ghost Dance Religion have an important element of rain shamanism integrated into themes of ancestor resurrection and world renewal. Included in the presentation are new discoveries regarding Ghost Dance rock paintings in eastern California and the Great Basin.
The presentation highlights working hypotheses that weather shamans ritually create various elements of weather through homeopathic and sympathetic magic directed at creating sacred wind, clouds, rain, and thunder.

Research paper thumbnail of Little Lake, California: Ancient Oasis of Stone Age Images

The remarkable treasure of Little Lake, California is a bit of a time capsule for those who are h... more The remarkable treasure of Little Lake, California is a bit of a time capsule for those who are honored to visit and study its physical and cultural features. Little Lake itself is a breathtaking oasis in the California Desert. It is a natural, spring fed lake that has existed in this location for at least the last 5,000 years and perhaps for thousands of years earlier. At Little Lake we have several types of archaeological sites. These include nearly 5,000 individual instances of rock art including: paintings, Great Basin Pecked (abstract and realistic) drawings and many examples of Numic Scratched. Additionally, there are a number of rock shelters that have Native rock art, a number of ancient open air prehistoric archaeological sites, and many other surface flake scatters - the by- products of stone tool manufacture and repair.

This slide presentation is a brief overview to the regional chronology and culture history relating to the archaeology and rock art of the Little Lake Region.


Research paper thumbnail of The Rose Spring Bighorn Sheep Shrine and Bighorn Animal Ceremonialism in the Far West

Research paper thumbnail of Animal Ceremonialism and the Hunting Religion

In the early 1990s, a bighorn ram skull cap with intact horn cores, set atop a stacked rock cairn... more In the early 1990s, a bighorn ram skull cap with intact horn cores, set atop a stacked rock cairn, was discovered at the Rose Spring site (CA-INY-372), located on the edge of the Coso Range at the southwestern corner of the Great Basin. In this article, we describe the character of the discovery, date the feature, and posit its meaning and function. The feature is intriguing since it might represent a prehistoric manifestation associated with Coso Representational Rock Art. The context for understanding this discovery and other prehistoric bighorn features documented in the Desert West is explored. A review of ethnographic accounts, native oral tradition and cosmology, and bighorn figurative sculptures and rock art, help us explore the religious and ceremonial significance of this animal to the aboriginal people of the region.

Research paper thumbnail of Myth, Ritual, and Rock Art: Decorated Animal-People and the Animal Master

Research paper thumbnail of Bradshaw Foundation E Book - Talking Stone DVD

Research paper thumbnail of Talking Stone: the Story of Coso Rock Art

Research paper thumbnail of Cultural Resource Management in California: A Personal Historical Retrospective

A personal retrospective on the practice of cultural resource management in the California heartl... more A personal retrospective on the practice of cultural resource management in the California heartland. Mostly historical and descriptive with a few insights from my 40 year career in this discipline. Also crafted with the central theme of how does the practice of CRM affect Native Californians...

Research paper thumbnail of Colorado Desert Prehistory

Research paper thumbnail of Webinars from the Archaeology Podcast Network and Team Black Advanced Anthropological Studies Webinar Series

Review of the evidence: archaeology, genetics, linguistics and geology. Peopling of the Americas... more Review of the evidence: archaeology, genetics, linguistics and geology. Peopling of the Americas including North and South America. Clovis and pre-Clovis discoveries. Latest cutting edge discoveries.

Research paper thumbnail of Seminar Number 5 Archaeology Podcast Network - Peopling of the Americas

Webinar Number 5 - Peopling of the Americas. Synthesis of current information on timing, routes,... more Webinar Number 5 - Peopling of the Americas. Synthesis of current information on timing, routes, method, and ancestral genetics. Includes subject matter on historical linguistics, archaeology, geology, paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Live webinar on April 9 at 6:30 pm PST.

Research paper thumbnail of December Webinar Promotion for Academia edu: Coso Shamans and Black Glass Traders:  Hunting Religion and Animal Ceremonialism in the eastern Sierra and Great Basin Frontier

Outline of Seminar • Hunting magic and animal ceremonialism • Shamanism and vision quests • Oral ... more Outline of Seminar
• Hunting magic and animal ceremonialism
• Shamanism and vision quests
• Oral traditions and sacred narrative
• Coso Range rock art – character, age, ethnic affiliation, meaning, and function
• Decorated animal humans
• Yahwera – Animal Master of the Netherworld
• Hunting weaponry
• Moon goddess and primordial pilgrims panel
• Synthesis, interpretations
• Understanding deep time Uto-Aztecan Cosmology

Research paper thumbnail of Great Mural Rock Art Presentation for Crow Canyon Trip 110318.pptx

This research paper provides an overview and preliminary assessment of the current state of knowl... more This research paper provides an overview and preliminary assessment of the current state of knowledge regarding age, cultural context, meaning, and function of the Great Mural Rock Art Tradition of Baja California. The effort pays homage and respect to all of those who have studied this remarkable assemblage of Native American / Native Californian art and religion.

The authors are very aware of the challenges faced in attempting an overview of the sort presented here. We clearly believe it most important to recognize that cultural symbols change depending upon who is viewing them and when. Many levels of meanings are embedded simultaneously and even imbricated within the compound metaphors of cultural tropes. Some symbolic images and their meanings are internally inconsistent and seemingly paradoxical but yet unified and interrelated.

Nevertheless, we are not, as some researchers suggest, unable to piece together good information that helps us illuminate the artistic contributions of these prehistoric artists. We can ask and pose probing and thoughtful questions and the patterns and characteristics of these compositions can tell us certain things - some things can be learned. On some topics the paintings will remain mute but it is possible to provide a deeper understanding of the rock paintings based on a rigorous program of scholarly discourse and detailed study of these remarkable compositions.

Research paper thumbnail of California Archaeology Fluted and Basally Thinned Concave-Base Points of Obsidian in the Borden Collection from Inyo County, Alta California: Age and Significance

This article describes, classifies, and provides the calculated ages of 14 basally thinned and fl... more This article describes, classifies, and provides the calculated ages of 14 basally thinned and fluted points of obsidian in the Borden collection from Rose Valley in southern Inyo County, California. With the exception of one item of Fish Springs obsidian, the specimens are all made of glass from geologic subsources in the Coso Volcanic Field. Typologically, the fragmentary and reworked artifacts appear to represent Clovis, or perhaps Clovis-derived, concave-base lanceolate points. Obsidian hydration measurements permit age calculations that range between approximately 13,793 and 11,308 calendar years ago. The calculated ages of the Borden artifacts are consistent with their discovery on landforms associated with Younger Dryas and very early Holocene wetlands. Our research results also suggest that Clovis technology may have persisted longer in California than it did in the southeastern, central, and southwestern United States.

Research paper thumbnail of Tale of the Taiils - SAA - 2011.ppt

Coso Range drawings are central to debates (since Lewis Williams and Dowson 1988) about the orig... more Coso Range drawings are central to debates (since Lewis Williams and Dowson 1988) about the origin and meaning of prehistoric rock art. There are a number of competing explanations and alternative meanings for animal depictions in Great Basin.

New evidence offers a middle ground between “hunting religion, increase rites, and overkill” versus “shamans, visions, and rain” models. The authors believe there has been a false dichotomy where it is more likely that both sides are partly correct and neither side is completely right (cf. Meighan 1998).

We hope to close the gap and clarify the framework of an ideological context for animal ceremonialism and symbolism.
We use foraging cultures and Coso Range iconography as a central talking point.

Research paper thumbnail of Sheep hunting Mask_2018.pptx

A bighorn sheep hunting mask discovered in 1923 has been identified at the Imperial Valley Museum... more A bighorn sheep hunting mask discovered in 1923 has been identified at the Imperial Valley Museum. this is the first document example of such a Native hunting disguise to be identified as an ethnohistoric item of California Indian material culture. This has implications for a better understanding of Native hunting practices and possible interpretive value for illumination of prehistoric hunting images in rock art and Native theology.

Research paper thumbnail of Powerful and Potent-  Projectile Point Animal Humans of the Cosos Version 4.0 (2).pptx

Newly revised and expanded presentation with new discovery relating to the pointed animal human f... more Newly revised and expanded presentation with new discovery relating to the pointed animal human figures and the lunar goddess and associated analogs for ancient thematic sacred narrative of Huichol and Nahua cosmology.

Research paper thumbnail of Numic Ghost Dance Paintings

Latest update and newest revised discoveries surrounding the historic polychrome paintings of Eas... more Latest update and newest revised discoveries surrounding the historic polychrome paintings of Eastern California thought to be associated with the 1870 and 1890 Ghost Dance Movements.

Research paper thumbnail of Expression:  Messages from Prehistoric Rock Drawings

Research paper thumbnail of Eisenman-Final w photos  071617.pdf

In 2008, Ross and Miles Eisenman contacted Kawaiisu elder Harold Williams and donated their entir... more In 2008, Ross and Miles Eisenman contacted Kawaiisu elder Harold Williams and donated their entire artifact collection to the Kawaiisu people. The collection is now permanently accessioned and curated at the Tehachapi Museum. Much of the collection is currently on display in the Kawaiisu Hall of the Milano Gallery at the museum.

This collection has been of great interest to prehistorians who study the region’s cultural history. Given the early date when the Eisenman children were collecting, it appears to represent a relatively intact (possibly highly representative) sample of the artifactual remains deposited by the aboriginal people who lived in the Sand Canyon area of the Tehachapi Region of Eastern California. The Eisenman collection, having been made before significant Euroamerican occupation and modern disturbances transpired, contains a rather remarkable array and interesting reflection of aboriginal activities in the area. Given the timeline represented by the point assemblage and its provenience, it is an irreplaceable treasure and unique resource.

The collection includes a wide array of both dart and arrow points spanning a period from the early Holocene (cal 11,500 – 6,500 BC) through the historic era – with a surprising number of Middle Archaic (cal 2,000 BC – AD 600) diagnostics.

By comparing this material to other adjacent regions some interesting land use patterns for the larger far southern Sierra Nevada, Tehachapi, Kern Plateau and Coso Volcanic Field areas can be identified.

Research paper thumbnail of Cultural Resource Management in California: A Personal Historical Retrospective

Refelctions on my experiences and thoughts from four decades of cultural resource management in C... more Refelctions on my experiences and thoughts from four decades of cultural resource management in California. Includes an overview of relevant federal and state law with special emphasis on Native American consultation, coordination and heritage values.

Research paper thumbnail of The Green River Bighorn Sheep, Horned-headdress, San Rafael Swell, Utah

In this essay we address a prehistoric bighorn sheep, horned headdress from the Tommy Morris Coll... more In this essay we address a prehistoric bighorn sheep, horned headdress from the Tommy Morris Collection which was formerly exhibited at the Utah State University Eastern Prehistoric Museum in Price, Utah. This remarkable artifact was recovered from the vicinity of Robber’s Roost in the San Rafael Desert, within an area west of the Green River. This region is considered to be the former homeland to both Desert Archaic and Fremont peoples and both regularly hunted bighorn sheep and created rock art imagery (both rock drawings and paintings) featuring horned anthropomorphs and bighorn sheep.

Since no formal study of this remarkable object had been completed, a study of the headdress was begun. The rationale for this study is primarily the rarity of such a find in the archaeological record, and to help clarify some of the assertions made in the literature concerning bighorn ceremonialism. Incorporated into that study were plans for dating the object, describing it in finer detail and placing the artifact in its proper anthropological and archaeological context as to possible meaning, function, and cultural affiliation.

Research paper thumbnail of Powerful and Potent: Projectile Point Animal- Humans of the Coso Range

Rock art panels exhibiting projectile point forms are relatively rare in North America. Such ima... more Rock art panels exhibiting projectile point forms are relatively rare in North America. Such images are infrequent in the Coso Range yet highly informative. Extensive study has led to suggestions of their age and function.

Research paper thumbnail of Sheep hunting Mask_2016.pptx

A Native American object that has been suggested to be a bighorn sheep hunting mask disguise was ... more A Native American object that has been suggested to be a bighorn sheep hunting mask disguise was recovered in the Vallecito Mountains , in southwest corner of the Colorado Desert in the 1920s. This artifact is the subject of a short slide presentation.

Research paper thumbnail of Western Clovis Expressions at Lake China: Dating and Landscape Context

There is long-standing ambiguity in the age and sequence of terminal Pleistocene and earliest Hol... more There is long-standing ambiguity in the age and sequence of terminal Pleistocene and earliest Holocene cultural complexes in eastern California (i.e., northern Mojave Desert, western Great Basin) and the adjacent southern Sierra Nevada and southern San Joaquin Valley.
There is also some doubt as to whether the Western Clovis tradition has a temporally or geographically extensive presence in California and the Great Basin.
Questions remain regarding the true antiquity of the earliest projectile point forms in these regions. Other confounding issues relate to the chronological relationship of one point type to another (e.g. Western Fluted vs. End Thinned Concave Base point forms). Recent research in Eastern California has provided some data to help clarify the age of Western Clovis points in the Coso Region. Discovery of fluted and concave base points along the shores of Pleistocene Lake China and source specific temperature dependent obsidian hydration dates on fluted and concave base points from the Borden sites in Rose Valley provide confirming data placing these discoveries at about 12,000 to 13,000 calibrated years before present.

Research paper thumbnail of Powerful and Potent: Projectile Point Animal- Humans of the Coso Range

 The depiction of realistic renderings of projectile point forms in association with prehistoric... more  The depiction of realistic renderings of projectile point forms in association with prehistoric rock drawings is a somewhat unusual feature only exhibited at a handful of prehistoric rock art sites in the United States. This occurrence has been documented at a few archeological sites in North America (Callahan 2003; Keyser and Klassen 2001; Riggs 2001; Sutherland and Steed 1974; Thomas and Thomas 1972). It appears that in some cases there is a tendency for the depiction of these projectile points with associated anthropomorphs and therianthropes (animal-human conflations). Specifically, the images depicted with projectile points might be understood as a Mother or Lord of the Animals icon. The projectile points would be metaphors representing hunting success, prestige. Although the function of much of rock art is mysterious and elusive, we can be certain that fertility is certainly one of its central themes. A key element of forager cosmology includes beliefs about the sky fertilizing the earth with rain.
In general what we see in the animal-human icons is the depiction of the energetics of the larger cosmic cycle that fueled and fertilized the indigenous world.

Research paper thumbnail of The Green River Bighorn Sheep Headdress, San Rafael Swell, Utah

An amazing artifact, a prehistoric bighorn sheep headdress, is part of the Tommy Morris collectio... more An amazing artifact, a prehistoric bighorn sheep headdress, is part of the Tommy Morris collection formerly exhibited at the Utah State University Eastern Prehistoric Museum in Price, Utah [Prehistoric Museum] (Figure 1). The artifact was apparently found in the Robber’s Roost area of the San Rafael Desert, west of Green River. This region is home to both Desert Archaic and Fremont peoples and both regularly hunted bighorn sheep and created rock art imagery (both rock drawings and paintings) featuring horned anthropomorphs and bighorn sheep. The San Rafael Swell, just to the west, is also the core area for the distribution of Barrier Canyon Style pictographs (rock paintings), and all major river canyons in this area include painted rock art galleries containing anthropomorphs, some of which are adorned with what appear to us and other researchers as horned headdresses. Since no formal study of this remarkable object had been completed, a study of the headdress was completed. Incorporated into that study were elements relating to dating the object, describing it in finer detail and placing the artifact in its proper anthropological and archaeological context as to possible meaning, function, and cultural affiliation.

Research paper thumbnail of XRF Dating of Desert Varnish:  Rock Art Dating

Research paper thumbnail of Little Lake Landscape People and Rock Art

The remarkable treasure of Little Lake, California is a bit of a time capsule for those who are h... more The remarkable treasure of Little Lake, California is a bit of a time capsule for those who are honored to visit and study its physical and cultural features. Little Lake itself is a breathtaking oasis in the California Desert. It is a natural, spring fed lake that has existed in this location for at least the last 5,000 years and perhaps for thousands of years earlier as a spring fed marsh and riparian “garden”.

At Little Lake there exists the natural and cultural expressions of pre-contact, traditional Native Californian lifeways. The location of Little Lake itself is within the channel of the Pleistocene (greater than 10,000 years old) Owens River. Evidence from prehistoric archaeological studies in the vicinity of Little Lake testify to a Native occupation from 13,000 years ago through the historic era.

At Little Lake we have several types of archaeological sites.
These include nearly 5,000 individual instances of rock art including: paintings, Great Basin Pecked (abstract and realistic [Coso Representational]) drawings, and many examples of Numic Scratched. Additionally, there are a number of rock shelters that have Native rock art, a number of ancient open air prehistoric archaeological sites, and many other surface flake scatters - the by-products of stone tool manufacture and repair.

Research paper thumbnail of Archaeoastronomy.ppt

Short overview on archaeoastronomy. Presentation made on Winter Solstic to the Coachella Valley ... more Short overview on archaeoastronomy. Presentation made on Winter Solstic to the Coachella Valley Archaeological Society in Palm Springs, California. Provides three case studies from California Native groups with their solar and lunar cosmological expressions - in rock art, calendrics and sacred narrative.

Research paper thumbnail of Green River Bighorn Sheep Horned Headdress

Research paper thumbnail of Rio Bravo.pptx

A quick overview of the prehistory and early history of Rio Bravo Ranch - one of the oldest conti... more A quick overview of the prehistory and early history of Rio Bravo Ranch - one of the oldest continuously employed privately held ranch in California. Focuses on Native indigenous use historically and the results of earlier archaeological studies as to the antiquity of that use. Also briefly presents on Father Garces interaction and pioneering use as a sheep ranch and farm by early settlers in Bakersfield.