Volvon Village on Mallory Creek 715 bedrock mortars and countless housepits spread over a half mile. Cupule rock. This village, located in the highlands of the Black Hills, must have been one of the largest settlements in the prehistoric Bay Area, yet it was, apparently, unknown to early archaeologists and historians. It does not appear […]
Canada del Cierbo28 bedrock mortars, cupules/anvils, and middenLess than 1/2 mile from Interstate 80 off Cummings SkywayElevation 208 ft.Thanks to Joel for leading us here.Archaeological analysis of this site recovered charcoal and bone more than 4,000 years old. Midden at this site may be from N. C. Nelsons Crockett Mound (No. 254).The expedition heads toward […]
Wildcat Creek Cupule Rock20+ cupules and incising on a blueschist boulder in Wildcat Creek.Elevation 285 ft.Another cupule rock on Wildcat Creek. Could this rock in the middle of the creek have had something to do with fishing magic?A closer view of the cupule rock.Photograph by Bob Bardell.
Los Vaqueros Log Cabin Village.60 bedrock mortars, 4 cupules, 4 slicks, and probably historic rock walls.Elevation 515 ft.Like the Pond Village, the Log Cabin Village found its year-round water in nearby Adobe Creek, but in the winter, water is typically abundant in seasonal tributaries like this one.Looking back toward the Log Cabin, which, alas, is […]
Rock City13 bedrock mortars, grinding slick, cupules, and incisions.There are deep, well-worn mortars here.Another view.
Canyon Milling siteTwenty-nine bedrock mortars, three probable bedrock-mortars.Ten small mortars on one rock could be considered cupules.Elevation 1477 ft.Our name for this site comes from Table 1 of the 1992 report Evaluation, Request for Determination of Eligibility, and Effect for the Los Vaqueros Project.A partial view of the site.Photograph by Bob BardellA closer look at […]
Williams Gulch2 bedrock mortars and 2 cupulesElevation 1369 ft.Jeff has a way of finding bedrock mortar rocks in remote locations.The mortar rock here sits on a little shelf above Miller’s Creek.Another view of the mortar rock.A closeup of the rockPrevious two photographs by Jeff Green.This site is on private property. Secure permission before visiting it.
Lower Volvon Village200 bedrock mortars and a 32 cupule rock. A second cupule rock also at the site. Numerous housepits.Elevation 1445 ft.This is one of the largest collections of bedrock mortars in California, and it is only about a mile and a half away from the main Volvon Village.The Lower Village sits on the side […]
Round Valley Village317+ bedrock mortars, two cupule rocks, and a stacked rock enclosure.CA-CCO-320This settlement is the largest of three that sit along the eastern base of the Black Hills.Joseph Chartkoff in “A Rock Feature Complex from Northwestern California,” American Antiquity, Vol. 48, No. 4, (Oct., 1983), pp. 745-760, notes the similarity between this stacked-rock enclosure […]
Canyon Trail Park Petroglyph Boulder20+ bedrock mortars and 175+ cupules on one chlorite blueschist boulder.Elevation 141 ft.CA-CCO-152This rock is in Canyon Trail Park on a branch of Baxter Creek. Baxter Creek flows into the Bay near Stege, a long-vanished neighborhood on the old shoreline of San Francisco Bay, northwest of Albany hill. Some of the […]
