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 […]
Don Edwards Preserve4 bedrock mortars, possible cupulesElevation 103 ft.Another one of Jeff’s amazing finds.Nearly all the bedrock mortars we’ve encountered in the Bay Area occur on sandstone. These are the only ones we’ve seen in metamorphic chert.A closer look. Note the paired, shallow mortars. Such arrangements are rare. The only others we’ve seen are on […]
Pine Canyon #12 bedrock mortars, 2 cupules, and an incised rock at the Intersection of Castle Rock and Stage Road Trails.Mortar and pestle.
Elephant RockOne bedrock mortar, cupules, and carved graffiti.Elephant Rock may have been a “prayer” site. See Cupule Petroglyphs in the Diablo Range by E. Breck Parkman in the Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 254-55 (1986).Home of the Elephant Rock.
Rock City13 bedrock mortars, grinding slick, cupules, and incisions.There are deep, well-worn mortars here.Another view.
Evergreen Valley Cupule Rock on Silver Creek32+ cupulesElevation 570 ft.Thanks to Joel for directing us here.The rock.Some of the cupules on this rock could probably be classed as bedrock mortars.We believe the trinomial for this site is CA-SCL-63. There are PCNs on this rock too, but we didn’t notice any. See A Stylistic Analysis of […]
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 […]
First Terrace31 bedrock mortars, a 23 cupule rock, and 3-4 housepits.Elevation 775 ft.This site and the Kitchen site are actually on the same terrace, separated by a creekbed, but because we discovered and named the Kitchen site first, we called this site the “First Terrace.”A view of the First Terrace. The cupule rock is near […]
Silva/Kellogg Lower1 bowl mortar, 1 broken mortar, 3 starters/cupules.Elevation 531 ft.This site may be inundated when the enlarged Los Vaqueros reservoir reaches its highest water level.Bob measures the bowl mortar.We believe the trinomial for this site is CA-CCO-452.
Gossip Rock5 bedrock mortars, possible cupules and incisions.This is one of the rare archaeological sites identified by East Bay Regional Parks. It’s listed right there on the map for Garin/Dry Creek Pioneer Park. Be sure to sit here for a while. Enjoy the south-facing rock and the view of Mission Peak.Jim studies a mortar on […]
